Tlr4 upregulation in the brain accompanies depression- and anxiety-like behaviors induced by a high-cholesterol diet.

An association between metabolic abnormalities, hypercholesterolemia and affective disorders is now well recognized. Less well understood are the molecular mechanisms, both in brain and in the periphery, that underpin this phenomenon. In addition to hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation, C57BL/6J mice fed a high-cholesterol diet (0.

Improved long-term memory via enhancing cGMP-PKG signaling requires cAMP-PKA signaling.

Memory consolidation is defined by the stabilization of a memory trace after acquisition, and consists of numerous molecular cascades that mediate synaptic plasticity. Commonly, a distinction is made between an early and a late consolidation phase, in which early refers to the first hours in which labile synaptic changes occur, whereas late consolidation relates to stable and long-lasting synaptic changes induced by de novo protein synthesis. How these phases are linked at a molecular level is not yet clear.

Hippocampal gene expression of deiodinases 2 and 3 and effects of 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine T2 in mouse depression paradigms.

Central thyroid hormone signaling is important in brain function/dysfunction, including affective disorders and depression. In contrast to 3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3), the role of 3,5-diiodo-L-thyronine (T2), which until recently was considered an inactive metabolite of T3, has not been studied in these pathologies. However, both T3 and T2 stimulate mitochondrial respiration, a factor counteracting the pathogenesis of depressive disorder, but the cellular origins in the CNS, mechanisms, and kinetics of the cellular action for these two hormones are distinct and independent of each other.

Altered emotionality, hippocampus-dependent performance and expression of NMDA receptor subunit mRNAs in chronically stressed mice.

N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated neurotransmission in the hippocampus is implicated in cognitive and emotional disturbances during stress-related disorders. Here, using quantitative RT-PCR, we investigated the hippocampal expression of NR2A, NR2B and NR1 subunit mRNAs in a mouse stress paradigm that mimics clinically relevant conditions of simultaneously affected emotionality and hippocampus-dependent functions. A 2-week stress procedure, which comprised ethologically valid stressors, exposure to a rat and social defeat, was applied to male C57BL/6J mice.

The differential effects of chronic imipramine or citalopram administration on physiological and behavioral outcomes in naïve mice.

Tricyclics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are probably the most widely employed reference antidepressants in animal studies on depression. Using imipramine and citalopram, we sought to assess which drug would be more appropriate as pharmacological reference in paradigms of depression in C57BL6N mice by measuring their effect on liquid consumption, home cage activity, body weight and long-term memory in naïve animals treated with each compound at generally used dose of 15 mg/kg/day. Continuous logging of home cage movement, weekly monitoring of vertical activity in a novel cage, and body weight was recorded during four-week treatment period and for four weeks after discontinuation of the antidepressant; sucrose preference was evaluated at weekly intervals during drug administration.