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Single Prolonged Stress as a Prospective Model for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Females
Author(s) -
Nwokafor Chiso,
Navhi Roxanna J,
Serova Lidia,
Sabban Esther
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.581.2
Subject(s) - locus coeruleus , anxiety , elevated plus maze , behavioural despair test , medicine , psychology , major depressive disorder , endocrinology , physiology , amygdala , psychiatry , central nervous system , antidepressant
Background Sex plays an important role in susceptibility to stress triggered disorders. Posttraumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), a debilitating psychiatric disorder developed after exposure to a traumatic event, is two times more prevalent in women than men. However, the vast majority of animal models of PTSD, including single prolonged stress (SPS), were performed mostly with males. Objectives (1) Evaluate SPS as an appropriate model for PTSD in female rodents in terms of anxiety, depressive symptoms and changes of gene expression in the locus coeruleus; (2) Asses sex differences in SPS‐triggered changes in these measures; (3) Examine intranasal NPY as a potential early intervention for females. Methods Female rats were subjected to SPS and given either intranasal NPY or vehicle. Twelve and seven days later they were compared to unstressed controls on forced swim test (FST) and elevated plus maze (EPM) respectively. Changes in gene expression in the locus coeruleus (LC) were determined by quantitative RT‐PCR. Results and Interpretation SPS led to increased anxiety‐like behavior on EPM, and tended to raise depressive‐like behavior on FST. Following FST rats displayed elevated TH, CRHR1 and Y1R mRNA levels in the LC, consistent with increased activation of the noradrenergic system. The expression level of these mRNAs were unchanged following EPM. Intranasal NPY at the doses shown to be effective in males, did not prevent development of depressive or anxiety‐like behavior or molecular changes in the LC. SPS may be milder for females when compared to males, as they did not show despair or immobility as readily as males on the forced swim component of the SPS protocols. In addition, after SPS stressors females exhibited less immobility on FST than males, however there were little overall sex differences in anxiety‐like behavior on EPM. Conclusions The results indicate that while SPS could be an appropriate PTSD model for females, there are important sex differences, such as response to NPY, that need to be taken into account. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the DOD Department of Defense Broad Agency Announcement for Extramural Medical Research under Award No W81XWH‐16‐1‐0016 and by funds from the NYMC/Touro Bridge Funding Program. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .