Physiology & behavior
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Physiology & behavior · May 2019
Macranthol attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced depressive-like behaviors by inhibiting neuroinflammation in prefrontal cortex.
Macranthol is a lignans natural product isolated from Illicium dunnianum Tutch. Our previous studies have shown that BDNF dependent signaling pathway activation was involved in the antidepressant-like effects of macranthol. However, it is not clear whether neuro-inflammation suppression is involved in the effects of macranthol. ⋯ In addition, LPS induced the elevation of CD11b in the prefrontal cortex, which was also inhibited by macranthol. Last but not the least, the immunofluorescence found that the number of positive iba-1 cells was also decreased by macranthol. These findings suggest that macranthol could alleviate depressive-like behaviors in mice induced by LPS that are mediated, at least by suppressing microglia-related neuro-inflammation in the prefrontal cortex.
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Physiology & behavior · Apr 2019
Relationship between resilience and stress: Perceived stress, stressful life events, HPA axis response during a stressful task and hair cortisol.
There is no consensus about how resilience is related to the different types of stress such as daily or chronic stress and psychopathology. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between resilience and the different measures of stress such as perceived stress, chronic stress, life events, HPA axis response during a stressful task and psychopathology. ⋯ Resilience seems to be determinant in perceived stress, the number of current life events, the intensity of stressful events, chronic stress, obsession and compulsions, interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety and depression symptoms, and psychopathological severity index.
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Physiology & behavior · Mar 2019
Behavioral response is absent under the mating competition in rats (Rattus norvegicus).
Sexually receptive female rats normally copulate with several males during estrus, and multiple paternity is common. Sperm competition is therefore likely to occur. One response to competitive mating is to enhance sperm output per ejaculation and another is to augment the number of ejaculations. ⋯ There was no change in the number of preejaculatory intromissions or the ejaculation latency. The multiple mating did not affect non-sexual interactions with the female, whereas the female displayed more nose-offs and rejections when copulating with three males. It is concluded that mating competition does alter the initiation of copulation in the male rat, whereas copulatory behavior, i.e. intromission and ejaculation, remains unchanged.
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Physiology & behavior · Feb 2019
The sex differences of the behavior response to early Life immune stimulation: Microglia and astrocytes involvement.
It is well known that inflammatory challenge during the prenatal period results in permanent changes in glial cells and behavior in adulthood. However, it is unknown whether inflammatory challenge during the infantile period may have permanent sexually-dimorphic effects on microglia and astrocytes in vivo, which in turn may be associated with sex differences in adult behavior. In this study, we have evaluated whether postnatal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 250μg/kg, i.p. on postnatal day 14) induces depressive and less anxiety-like behaviors, glial cell activation, pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-alpha) secretion and sexually dimorphic responses in adulthood. ⋯ While in a male, our results showed a decrease in astrocytes number in the dorsal hippocampus, but no significant differences observed in ventral hippocampus. These findings indicate that an immune challenge in infantile rats induces a ventral and dorsal hippocampus damage in female more than in male, without affecting significantly the affective behavior changes in the female. The results also showed that small changes in the male hippocampus can affect the behavior and induce a depression-like behavior.
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Physiology & behavior · Nov 2018
The role of 5-HT1A receptors of hippocampal CA1 region in anticonvulsant effects of low-frequency stimulation in amygdala kindled rats.
Low frequency stimulation (LFS) has been proposed as a method in the treatment of epilepsy, but its anticonvulsant mechanism is still unknown. In the current study, the hippocampal CA1 region was microinjected with NAD-299 (a selective 5-HT1A antagonist), and its role in mediating the inhibitory action of LFS on amygdala kindling was investigated. Male Wistar rats were kindled by amygdala stimulation in a semi-rapid kindling manner (12 stimulations per day). ⋯ The application of LFS following daily kindling stimulations reduced the behavioral seizure stages, afterdischarge duration, and stage 5 seizure duration and increased the latency to stage 4 seizure compared to the kindled group. However, microinjection of NAD at the doses of 5 μg/1 μl, but not 2.5 μg/1 μl, blocked the inhibitory effect of LFS on behavioral and electrophysiological parameters in kindled animals. It could be presumed that 5-HT1A receptors in the CA1 area are involved in mediating the antiepileptic effects of LFS.