Journal
BIOMEDICINES
Volume 9, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9101293
Keywords
chronic social defeat stress; anxiety; depression; lithium chloride; mice
Categories
Funding
- Russian Science Foundation [19-15-00026]
- Budget Project [0259-2021-0016]
- Russian Science Foundation [19-15-00026] Funding Source: Russian Science Foundation
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Chronic social defeat stress in male mice leads to the development of anxiety and a depression-like state, as well as downregulation of serotonergic genes in the midbrain raphe nuclei. Chronic lithium chloride treatment has dual effects on anxiety behavior and serotonergic gene expression in these mice, with an anxiolytic-like effect on social communication and an anxiogenic-like effect on elevated plus-maze and social interaction tests.
There is experimental evidence that chronic social defeat stress is accompanied by the development of an anxiety, development of a depression-like state, and downregulation of serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei of male mice. Our study was aimed at investigating the effects of chronic lithium chloride (LiCl) administration on anxiety behavior and the expression of serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei of the affected mice. A pronounced anxiety-like state in male mice was induced by chronic social defeat stress in daily agonistic interactions. After 6 days of this stress, defeated mice were chronically treated with saline or LiCl (100 mg/kg, i.p., 2 weeks) during the continuing agonistic interactions. Anxiety was assessed by behavioral tests. RT-PCR was used to determine Tph2, Htr1a, Htr5b, and Slc6a4 mRNA expression. The results revealed anxiolytic-like effects of LiCl on social communication in the partition test and anxiogenic-like effects in both elevated plus-maze and social interaction tests. Chronic LiCl treatment upregulated serotonergic genes in midbrain raphe nuclei. Thus, LiCl effects depend on the treatment mode, psycho-emotional state of the animal, and experimental context (tests). It is assumed that increased expression of serotonergic genes is accompanied by serotonergic system activation and, as a side effect, by higher anxiety.
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