Home  About us  Contact
 

Tail Suspension Test (tail + suspension_test)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences28%

Selected Abstracts

,-Endorphin Mediates Behavioral Despair and the Effect of Ethanol on the Tail Suspension Test in Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2010
Elizabeth T. Barfield
Background:, The opioid peptide ,-endorphin (,-E) is synthesized and released in response to stressful stimuli as well as acute alcohol administration. The release of ,-E following exposure to an inescapable aversive situation may mediate behaviors that contribute to allostasis of the stress response. The present study examines the effects of ,-E on immobility in assays involving inescapable stress, both under basal conditions and after acute administration of EtOH. Methods:, Female and male transgenic mice with varying capacities to translate ,-E were subjected to either the forced swim (FST, Experiment 1) or the tail suspension test (TST, Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, mice were divided into three groups based on hormonal status (male, female-estrous, and female-nonestrous) and injected with either 1 g/kg EtOH or equivolume saline 14 minutes prior to behavioral assessment on the TST. Results:, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated a direct relationship between ,-E levels and immobility. There were also sex differences in behavior in these tests, with males displaying more immobility than females. A main effect of genotype in Experiment 3 replicated findings in Experiments 1 and 2. There was also an effect of EtOH (increasing immobility) and a significant interaction reflecting a particularly robust effect of the drug in mice with low ,-E. In addition, there were interactions between ,-E, EtOH effects, and hormonal status. Conclusions:, These findings support the contention that ,-E moderates behavioral responses to stressful stimuli and suggest a role for this peptide in coping behavior. Furthermore, the effects of EtOH on the response to stress may be mediated by ,-E. Sex differences in this influence may contribute to sex differences in disease susceptibility and expression. [source]

Helplessness in the Tail Suspension Test Is Associated with an Increase in Ethanol Intake and Its Rewarding Effect in Female Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2005
Yann Pelloux
Background: Depression is frequently observed in drug abusers. However, depression may be a primary factor of predisposition to drug abuse or a consequence of drug abuse. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of a preexisting depressive-like state/helplessness on subsequent alcohol responsiveness in mice. Methods: Male and female CD1 mice were selected according to their immobility time in the tail suspension test, and only mice with "high immobility" and "low immobility" time were retained. Using a two-bottle free-choice paradigm, these mice were given continuous access to tap water or solutions of ethanol (3,20% v/v), quinine (12.5,50 mg/liter), or sucrose (1,4% w/v). In female mice, rewarding and aversive effects of ethanol (1.5 and 3 g/kg, intraperitoneally) were also investigated using the conditioned place preference and the conditioned taste aversion paradigms. Results: Female mice were more immobile and drank more ethanol than male mice. No striking sex difference was observed in quinine consumption. Sucrose intake was higher in female than in male mice, whatever the solution concentration. At the 4% concentrated solution, a sucrose-induced increase in daily fluid intake was observed only in female mice. Female mice with high immobility time (HI) consumed more ethanol at the highest concentration than female mice with low immobility time (LI), whereas no difference was observed between HI and LI male mice. Moreover, whereas LI female mice failed to express place conditioning induced by the 3-g/kg dose of ethanol, HI female mice were strongly responsive to the rewarding effect of this high ethanol dose. Ethanol dose-dependently induced a conditioned taste aversion with a similar magnitude in both LI and HI female mice. Conclusions: The findings indicate that female CD1 mice tend to drink greater amounts of ethanol or sucrose solutions than male CD1 mice, suggesting that female mice may be a better model of excessive alcohol intake. Furthermore, no relationship was found between immobility scores and ethanol consumption in male mice. On the contrary, within female mice, HI mice consumed higher amounts of ethanol than LI mice probably because they experienced greater rewarding effects of ethanol. The present results support the hypothesis that depressive-like responses may predispose to ethanol abuse in female mice. [source]

Serotonin transporter, 5-HT1A receptor, and behavior in DBA/2J mice in comparison with four inbred mouse strains

JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 16 2009
Nina K. Popova
Abstract Prepulse inhibition (PPI), the reduction in acoustic startle produced when it is preceded by a weak prepulse stimulus, is impaired in schizophrenic patients. The DBA/2J mouse strain displayed deficient PPI and is therefore suggested as an experimental animal model for the loss of sensorimotor gating in schizophrenia. Brain serotonin (5-HT) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. In the present study, behavior, 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) mRNA level, 5-HT1A receptor mRNA level, and 5-HT1A receptor density in the brain regions were studied in DBA/2J mice in comparison with four inbred mouse strains (CBA/Lac, C57BL/6, BALB/c, and ICR). A decrease in 5-HTT mRNA level in the midbrain and a reduced density of 5-HT1A receptors in the frontal cortex without significant changes in 5-HT1A receptor mRNA level in DBA/2J mice were found. It was shown that, along with decreased PPI, DBA/2J mice demonstrated considerably reduced immobility in the tail suspension test and in the forced swim test. No significant interstrain differences in intermale aggression, or in light-dark box and elevated plus-maze tests, were found. The results suggested the involvement of decreased 5-HTT gene expression and 5-HT1A receptor density in genetically defined PPI deficiency and showed a lack of any association between PPI deficiency and predisposition to aggressive, anxiety, and depressive-like behaviors. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

,-Endorphin Mediates Behavioral Despair and the Effect of Ethanol on the Tail Suspension Test in Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2010
Elizabeth T. Barfield
Background:, The opioid peptide ,-endorphin (,-E) is synthesized and released in response to stressful stimuli as well as acute alcohol administration. The release of ,-E following exposure to an inescapable aversive situation may mediate behaviors that contribute to allostasis of the stress response. The present study examines the effects of ,-E on immobility in assays involving inescapable stress, both under basal conditions and after acute administration of EtOH. Methods:, Female and male transgenic mice with varying capacities to translate ,-E were subjected to either the forced swim (FST, Experiment 1) or the tail suspension test (TST, Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, mice were divided into three groups based on hormonal status (male, female-estrous, and female-nonestrous) and injected with either 1 g/kg EtOH or equivolume saline 14 minutes prior to behavioral assessment on the TST. Results:, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated a direct relationship between ,-E levels and immobility. There were also sex differences in behavior in these tests, with males displaying more immobility than females. A main effect of genotype in Experiment 3 replicated findings in Experiments 1 and 2. There was also an effect of EtOH (increasing immobility) and a significant interaction reflecting a particularly robust effect of the drug in mice with low ,-E. In addition, there were interactions between ,-E, EtOH effects, and hormonal status. Conclusions:, These findings support the contention that ,-E moderates behavioral responses to stressful stimuli and suggest a role for this peptide in coping behavior. Furthermore, the effects of EtOH on the response to stress may be mediated by ,-E. Sex differences in this influence may contribute to sex differences in disease susceptibility and expression. [source]

Ethanol-Related Behaviors in Serotonin Transporter Knockout Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 12 2006
Janel M. Boyce-Rustay
Background: Increasing evidence supports a role for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) in modulating the neural and behavioral actions of ethanol (EtOH) and other drugs of abuse. Methods: We used a 5-HTT knockout (KO) mouse model to further study this relationship. 5-Hydroxytryptamine transporter KO mice were tested for the sedative/hypnotic, hypothermia-inducing, motor-incoordinating (via accelerating rotarod), and depression-related (via tail suspension test) effects of acute EtOH administration. Reward-related effects of EtOH were assessed in 5-HTT KO mice using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. 5-Hydroxytryptamine transporter KO mice were tested for voluntary consumption of EtOH in a modified 2-bottle choice test that measured the temporal organization of drinking over the circadian cycle via "lickometers." Results: Replicating previous findings, 5-HTT KO mice exhibited significantly increased sensitivity to EtOH-induced sedation/hypnosis relative to wild-type controls. Additionally, 5-HTT KO mice showed motor-coordination deficits at baseline and in response to EtOH. Hypothermic, pro-depressive,like, and reward-related effects of EtOH were no different across genotypes. Gross EtOH consumption was modestly reduced in 5-HTT KO mice, due to significantly lesser consumption during the peak period of drinking in the early dark phase. Conclusions: Data extend the finding that loss of 5-HTT gene function alters certain neural and behavioral effects of EtOH, with implications for better understanding the pathophysiology and treatment of alcoholism. [source]

Helplessness in the Tail Suspension Test Is Associated with an Increase in Ethanol Intake and Its Rewarding Effect in Female Mice

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2005
Yann Pelloux
Background: Depression is frequently observed in drug abusers. However, depression may be a primary factor of predisposition to drug abuse or a consequence of drug abuse. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of a preexisting depressive-like state/helplessness on subsequent alcohol responsiveness in mice. Methods: Male and female CD1 mice were selected according to their immobility time in the tail suspension test, and only mice with "high immobility" and "low immobility" time were retained. Using a two-bottle free-choice paradigm, these mice were given continuous access to tap water or solutions of ethanol (3,20% v/v), quinine (12.5,50 mg/liter), or sucrose (1,4% w/v). In female mice, rewarding and aversive effects of ethanol (1.5 and 3 g/kg, intraperitoneally) were also investigated using the conditioned place preference and the conditioned taste aversion paradigms. Results: Female mice were more immobile and drank more ethanol than male mice. No striking sex difference was observed in quinine consumption. Sucrose intake was higher in female than in male mice, whatever the solution concentration. At the 4% concentrated solution, a sucrose-induced increase in daily fluid intake was observed only in female mice. Female mice with high immobility time (HI) consumed more ethanol at the highest concentration than female mice with low immobility time (LI), whereas no difference was observed between HI and LI male mice. Moreover, whereas LI female mice failed to express place conditioning induced by the 3-g/kg dose of ethanol, HI female mice were strongly responsive to the rewarding effect of this high ethanol dose. Ethanol dose-dependently induced a conditioned taste aversion with a similar magnitude in both LI and HI female mice. Conclusions: The findings indicate that female CD1 mice tend to drink greater amounts of ethanol or sucrose solutions than male CD1 mice, suggesting that female mice may be a better model of excessive alcohol intake. Furthermore, no relationship was found between immobility scores and ethanol consumption in male mice. On the contrary, within female mice, HI mice consumed higher amounts of ethanol than LI mice probably because they experienced greater rewarding effects of ethanol. The present results support the hypothesis that depressive-like responses may predispose to ethanol abuse in female mice. [source]

SK3 K+ channel-deficient mice have enhanced dopamine and serotonin release and altered emotional behaviors

GENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 8 2008
J. P. R. Jacobsen
SK3 K+ channels influence neuronal excitability and are present in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) nuclei in the brain stem. We therefore hypothesized that SK3 channels affect 5-HT and DA neurotransmission and associated behaviors. To explore this, we used doxycycline-induced conditional SK3-deficient (T/T) mice. In microdialysis, T/T mice had elevated baseline levels of striatal extracellular DA and the metabolites dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid. While baseline hippocampal extracellular 5-HT was unchanged in T/T mice, the 5-HT response to the 5-HT transporter inhibitor citalopram was enhanced. Furthermore, baseline levels of the 5-HT metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were elevated in T/T mice. T/T mice performed equally to wild type (WT) in most sensory and motor tests, indicating that SK3 deficiency does not lead to gross impairments. In the forced swim and tail suspension tests, the T/T mice displayed reduced immobility compared with WT, indicative of an antidepressant-like phenotype. Female T/T mice were more anxious in the zero maze. In contrast, anxiety-like behaviors in the open-field and four-plate tests were unchanged in T/T mice of both sexes. Home cage diurnal activity was also unchanged in T/T mice. However, SK3 deficiency had a complex effect on activity responses to novelty: T/T mice showed decreased, increased or unchanged activity responses to novelty, depending on sex and context. In summary, we report that SK3 deficiency leads to enhanced DA and 5-HT neurotransmission accompanied by distinct alterations in emotional behaviors. [source]