Prefrontal and Hippocampal Parvalbumin Interneurons in Animal Models for Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Consistent with postmortem findings in patients, most animal models for schizophrenia (SCZ) present abnormal levels of parvalbumin (PV), a marker of fast-spiking GABAergic interneurons, in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HIP). However, there are discrepancies in the literature. PV reductions lead to a functional loss of PV interneurons, which is proposed to underly SCZ symptoms.

Maternal microbiome disturbance induces deficits in the offspring's behaviors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Recent evidence has suggested that changes in maternal gut microbiota in early life may generate neurobiological consequences associated with psychiatric-related abnormalities. However, the number of studies on humans investigating this problem is limited, and preclinical findings sometimes conflict. Therefore, we run a meta-analysis to examine whether maternal microbiota disturbance (MMD) during neurodevelopment might affect the offspring during adulthood.

Consensus combining outcomes of multiple ensemble dockings: examples using dDAT crystalized complexes.

Docking using different programs provides more reliable information about the interaction of molecules than data obtained in a single program. An exponential consensus ranking (ECR) was developed to combine scoring functions across docking programs differing in efficiencies and scales of measurements. The ECR method was adapted to merge results of re- and cross-dockings (i.

Systematic heterogenisation to improve reproducibility in animal studies.

A recent study published in PLOS Biology investigated whether the systematic use of multiple experimenters boosts the reproducibility of behavioural assays in mice. These findings open up prospects for solutions to reproducibility issues in animal research.

Antidepressant-like activity of gestational administration of vitamin D is suppressed by prenatal overexposure to dexamethasone in female Wistar rats.

Overexposure to glucocorticoids during gestation can lead to long-term mental disorders. Given the higher prevalence of depression in females, we investigated whether late gestational administration of dexamethasone could generate a depressive-like phenotype in the adult female offspring and if vitamin D could have a neuroprotective effect in this context. Pregnant rats received vitamin D (VitD, 500 IU/day) or vehicle (CTL) during gestation.

Protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence linking hippocampal neurogenesis to the effects of antidepressants on mood and behaviour.

Objective: Studies in rodents associated the deficits of adult hippocampal neurogenesis with behavioural anomalies which may be reversed by antidepressant treatments. A previous systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis (MA) indicated a hierarchy within the proneurogenic effects of different antidepressants in naive rodents. The present review aims to evaluate a more comprehensive sample of studies investigating the links between the effects of different antidepressants and adult hippocampal neurogenesis.

Telencephalic distributions of doublecortin and glial fibrillary acidic protein suggest novel migratory pathways in adult lizards.

Adult neurogenesis has been reported in all major vertebrate taxa. However, neurogenic rates and the number of neurogenic foci vary greatly, and are higher in ancestral taxa. Our study aimed to evaluate the distribution of doublecortin (DCX) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in telencephalic areas of the adult tropical lizard Tropidurus hispidus.

Stress-mediated hyperactivity and anhedonia resistant to diazepam and fluoxetine in .

Distresses may induce behavioral phenotypes constituting heuristic models for psychopharmacology studies. In several species, including , antidepressants counteract stress-induced phenotypes allowing the use of these models to test new psychoactive drugs. Here, we developed a novel and time-efficient protocol to provoke stress-induced phenotypes in for the study of psychopharmacological agents.

Do antidepressants promote neurogenesis in adult hippocampus? A systematic review and meta-analysis on naive rodents.

The neurogenic hypothesis of depression states that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is disrupted by stress and depression and is recovered by chronic treatments with antidepressants. Indeed, chronic antidepressant treatments increased newborn neurons in the adult dentate gyrus in many early studies. However, conflicting findings appeared over time.

Sexually dimorphic responses of rats to fluoxetine in the forced swimming test are unrelated to the function of the serotonin transporter in the brain.

Due to the prevalence of depression in women, female rats may be a better models for antidepressant research than males. In male rats, fluoxetine inhibited the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) transporter (SERT) which is reducing the immobility time in the repeated forced swimming test (rFST). The performance of female rats in this test is unknown.

A single injection of imipramine affected proliferation in the hippocampus of adult Swiss mice depending on the route of administration, doses, survival time and lodging conditions.

Swiss mice may be valuable for the screening of antidepressants in preclinical trials. Acute treatment with antidepressants may affect the behaviour of Swiss mice, but the effects on their hippocampal neurogenesis remain unknown. The present work aims to assess the influence of acute treatment with antidepressants on cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of adult Swiss mice.

Ovarian failure induced by 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide worsens the autonomic cardiovascular response to chronic unpredictable stress in rats.

Aims: After menopause, women are more responsive to stress and more prone to exhibit hypertension, which elevates the risk of cardiac diseases. This vulnerability is due, in part, to the decline of ovarian steroids plasma levels. The 4-vinylciclohexane diepoxide (VCD) causes a gradual depletion of ovarian follicles causing loss of the normal ovarian function and a hormonal profile comparable to menopause in humans.

Enduring effects of muscarinic receptor activation on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, microRNA expression and behaviour.

The cholinergic system is one of the most important neurotransmitter systems in the brain with key roles in autonomic control and the regulation of cognitive and emotional responses. However, the precise mechanism by which the cholinergic system influences behaviour is unclear. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is a potential mediator in this context based on evidence, which has identified this process as putative mechanism of antidepressant action.

How would publication bias distort the estimated effect size of prototypic antidepressants in the forced swim test?

This commentary aims to discuss the impact of publication bias on the estimated effect of prototypic antidepressants in the forced swim test (FST). A systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) recently reported by Kara et al. (2018) showed that selected prototypic antidepressants reduced immobility time of mice in the FST across a variety of experimental designs.

Repeated forced-swimming test in intact female rats: behaviour, oestrous cycle and enriched environment.

Psychopharmacology used animal models to study the effects of drugs on brain and behaviour. The repeated forced-swimming test (rFST), which is used to assess the gradual effects of antidepressants on rat behaviour, was standardized only in males. Because of the known sex differences in rats, experimental conditions standardized for males may not apply to female rats.

Failure to detect the action of antidepressants in the forced swim test in Swiss mice.

Objective: The aims of this study were to replicate previously published experiments and to modify the protocol to detect the effects of chronic antidepressant treatment in mice.

Methods: Male Swiss mice (n=6-8/group) housed in reversed light/dark cycle were randomly assigned into receive vehicle (10% sucrose), sub-effective doses (1 and 3 mg/kg) or effective doses (10 and 30 mg/kg) of bupropion, desipramine, and fluoxetine and a candidate antidepressant, sodium butyrate (1-30 mg/kg) per gavage (p.o.

Influence of enrichment on behavioral and neurogenic effects of antidepressants in Wistar rats submitted to repeated forced swim test.

Repeated forced swimming test (rFST) may detect gradual effects of antidepressants in adult rats. Antidepressants, as enrichment, affected behavior and neurogenesis in rats. However, the influence of enrichment on behavioral and neurogenic effects of antidepressants is unknown.

The behavioral satiety sequence in pigeons (Columba livia). Description and development of a method for quantitative analysis.

The postprandial event known as the specific dynamic action is an evolutionarily conserved physiological set of metabolic responses to feeding. Its behavioral counterpart, a sequence of drinking, maintenance (e.g.

A proposal for refining the forced swim test in Swiss mice.

The forced swim test (FST) is a preclinical test to the screening of antidepressants based on rats or mice behaviours, which is also sensitive to stimulants of motor activity. This work standardised and validated a method to register the active and passive behaviours of Swiss mice during the FST in order to strength the specificity of the test. Adult male Swiss mice were subjected to the FST for 6 min without any treatment or after intraperitoneal injection of saline (0.

ETHOWATCHER: validation of a tool for behavioral and video-tracking analysis in laboratory animals.

We present a software (ETHOWATCHER(®)) developed to support ethography, object tracking and extraction of kinematic variables from digital video files of laboratory animals. The tracking module allows controlled segmentation of the target from the background, extracting image attributes used to calculate the distance traveled, orientation, length, area and a path graph of the experimental animal. The ethography module allows recording of catalog-based behaviors from environment or from video files continuously or frame-by-frame.

Effects of social isolation and enriched environment on behavior of adult Swiss mice do not require hippocampal neurogenesis.

Housing conditions are important determinants of animal behavior. Their impact on behavioral output depends on the behavior of interest, species, strain, and age of the animal evaluated. In the present study, male Swiss mice reared from weaning up to 8 weeks in social isolation (SI8), in enriched environment (EE8) or in standard environment (SE8) were evaluated in the elevated plus-maze (EPM), open-field (OFT) and tail-suspension (TST) tests.

Behavioral profile and Fos activation of serotonergic and non-serotonergic raphe neurons after central injections of serotonin in the pigeon (Columba livia).

Central injections of serotonin (5-HT) in food-deprived/refed pigeons evoke a sequence of hypophagic, hyperdipsic and sleep-like responses that resemble the postprandial behavioral sequence. Fasting-refeeding procedures affect sleep and drinking behaviors "per se". Here, we describe the behavioral profile and long-term food/water intake following intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of 5-HT (50, 150, 300 nmol/2 μl) in free-feeding/drinking pigeons.

Distribution of tryptophan hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in the brainstem and diencephalon of the pigeon (Columba livia).

The distribution of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH)-containing perikarya and processes in the brainstem and diencephalon of the pigeon (Columba livia) were investigated using single-labeling chromogenic and double-labeling fluorescence immunohistochemical methods for TPH and 5-HT. TPH-immunoreactive (TPH-ir) perikarya were seen extending from the caudal medulla to mid-hypothalamic levels, located in brainstem regions previously described as containing 5-HT-ir somata. Brainstem TPH-ir cell clusters (the midline raphe, and the dorsolateral and ventrolateral serotonergic cell groups) and the circumventricular cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in the taenia choroidea (in the caudal brainstem), recessus infundibuli and paraventricular organ (in the hypothalamus) were shown to co-express 5-HT immunoreactivity.

The peeping response of pigeons (Columba livia) to isolation from conspecifics and exposure to a novel environment.

The present study examined the acute behavioral responses of pigeons to separation from conspecifics and exposure to an unfamiliar environment (UE). The effects of (1) repeated exposure to the UE; (2) visual isolation from surroundings, or saline injections; and (3) diazepam treatment (i.p.