Review
Cell Biology
Marta Dziedzicka-Wasylewska, Joanna Solich, Agata Korlatowicz, Agata Faron-Gorecka
Summary: Long-lasting biological and psychological stress factors are commonly accepted as the main cause of depressive disorders. The most frequently used animal models only capture a portion of the molecular features associated with complex human disorders. Studies of stress resilience mechanisms bring us closer to understanding the process of adapting to aversive stimuli.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Katharina Gryksa, Anna K. Schmidtner, Marianella Masis-Calvo, Odir A. Rodriguez-Villagra, Andrea Havasi, Gwendolyn Wirobski, Rodrigue Maloumby, Herbert Jaegle, Oliver J. Bosch, David A. Slattery, Inga D. Neumann
Summary: Animal models of selective breeding for extremes in emotionality are an important tool in studying psychopathologies. In this study, Wistar rats selectively bred for high and low anxiety-related behavior are extensively discussed. The study confirms the differences between high and low anxiety rats in trait anxiety, depressive-like behavior, social behavior, and cognitive behavior. The study also identifies a genetic factor causative for neuropeptide overexpression in high anxiety rats. These findings demonstrate that HAB and LAB rats are reliable models for studying high trait anxiety and its comorbidity with depression-like behavior and social dysfunctions.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Toshinori Yoshioka, Daisuke Yamada, Riho Kobayashi, Eri Segi-Nishida, Akiyoshi Saitoh
Summary: Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is closely related to depressive disorders, and psychological stress can decrease cell survival rate in the hippocampus of mice, influencing the validity of emotional stress in animal models of depression.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sebastien Bullich, Sarah Delcourte, Nasser Haddjeri, Bruno P. Guiard
Summary: The study found that 5d-RFSS mice exhibited strong depressive characteristics in the FST, but the model has limitations in replicating the broad spectrum of depressive symptoms observed in other chronic models. However, it showed a significant impact on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joeri Bordes, Lucas Miranda, Maya Reinhardt, Sowmya Narayan, Jakob Hartmann, Emily L. Newman, Lea Maria Brix, Lotte van Doeselaar, Clara Engelhardt, Larissa Dillmann, Shiladitya Mitra, Kerry J. Ressler, Benno Puetz, Felix Agakov, Bertram Mueller-Myhsok, Mathias V. Schmidt
Summary: The open-source tool DeepOF can accurately identify distinct stress-induced social behavioral patterns in mice, especially at the beginning of a novel social encounter. It provides supervised and unsupervised pipelines for analyzing pose estimation data, facilitating the study of rodent individual and social behavior.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Jiayi Zheng, Weiwu Cai, Xuen Lu, Wei He, Ding Li, Haoyu Zhong, Liangjun Yang, Siyi Li, Haishan Li, Sereen Rafee, Ziming Zhao, Qi Wang, Huafeng Pan
Summary: The study found that chronic stress exacerbates the condition of gastric precancerous lesions, shortens the disease process, and increases the risk of tumor development. Close monitoring of the mental health of cancer survivors and precancerous lesion patients is crucial in the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Tahani K. Alshammari
Summary: Biomedical science has long neglected research on the female brain, but in recent years there has been an increased focus on including females in brain studies. However, current knowledge on sex-based differences in depression and stress-related disorders is limited, and can be improved by reviewing preclinical studies. These studies shed light on the discrepancies between males and females in the biological mechanisms underlying mechanistic alterations in the diseased brain.
PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Bhedita J. Seewoo, Eng Guan Chua, Yasmin Arena-Foster, Lauren A. Hennessy, Anastazja M. Gorecki, Ryan Anderton, Jennifer Rodger
Summary: The composition of gut microbiome is closely related to mood-related behaviors, including depression. This study found that chronic restraint stress (CRS) led to changes in gut microbiome composition, while low-intensity repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (LI-rTMS) treatment was associated with the restoration of the gut microbiome and improvement in depressive symptoms and inflammatory processes.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF STRESS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Minsoo Kim, Woonhee Kim, Chihye Chung
Summary: Depressive disorders are more common in women, but little is known about the underlying factors. Female subjects are not well represented in depression studies. This review aims to describe the differences in prevalence, pathophysiology, and drug treatment responses between genders in depression patients. Animal models that accurately reflect female vulnerability to depression are also examined, along with the neural basis for sex differences in depression.
ANIMAL CELLS AND SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katarzyna Glombik, Magdalena Kukla-Bartoszek, Katarzyna Curzytek, Jan Detka, Agnieszka Basta-Kaim, Boguslawa Budziszewska
Summary: Depression has a long-term negative impact on quality of life, and it is important to understand the pathophysiological changes underlying this disorder. Dysfunctional energy metabolism plays a crucial role in the onset of depression, and further research on bioenergetic alterations is needed. Synthetic glucocorticoid-dexamethasone treatment during the prenatal period leads to brain energetic changes and depressive-like behavior, including a reduction in oxidative phosphorylation, impairment of the Krebs cycle, and weakened connection with glycolysis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Chanawee Hirunpattarasilp, Greg James, Jaturon Kwanthongdee, Felipe Freitas, Jiandong Huo, Huma Sethi, Josef T. Kittler, Raymond J. Owens, Laura E. McCoy, David Attwell
Summary: The binding of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2 on capillary pericytes causes pericyte contraction and capillary constriction, leading to reduced blood flow in the brain, heart, and kidney. The drug losartan can prevent these effects.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Aleksa Petkovic, Dipesh Chaudhury
Summary: Animal studies have significantly improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of depressive and mood disorders. Rodent behavioural models, in particular, have proven to be highly informative. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the most popular behavioural models, including their physiological, circuit, and molecular biological correlates. It also evaluates the outcomes, strengths, weaknesses, and translational value of behavioural stress paradigms and tests, with a focus on pharmacological studies.
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Sen Yang, Qiang Zheng, Guoan Yin
Summary: Adverse stress, such as long-term food restriction and activity limitation, can lead to depression-like mental state in sows. This study aimed to establish a pig depression model using acute stress and evaluate the model's feasibility. Results showed that after acute stress, pigs exhibited decreased feed intake, sucrose preference, and hippocampal 5-HT levels, as well as increased serum COR levels and fear. The overall score for the model was 0.57, suggesting that modeling was feasible. This novel model provides insight into the biological mechanisms underlying mood disorders in pigs.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Antonio Garrido, Mariano de La Serna, Monica de La Fuente, Eva Maria Marco, Meritxell Lopez-Gallardo
Summary: The study found that adult Premature Aging Mice (PAM) and chronologically old mice (OLD) share some similarities in neuronal and glial changes, which may partly explain the behavioral abnormalities reported in these animals.
EXPERIMENTAL GERONTOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paulina Misztak, Magdalena Sowa-Kucma, Patrycja Panczyszyn-Trzewik, Bernadeta Szewczyk, Gabriel Nowak
Summary: Chronic stress is a key factor in the development of depressive symptoms. The combination of fluoxetine and zinc induces a more pronounced antidepressant effect in the chronic restraint stress model. Zinc supplementation enhances the effectiveness of fluoxetine and plays a role in epigenetic regulation.
Article
Cell Biology
Tiago Silveira-Rosa, Antonio Mateus-Pinheiro, Joana Sofia Correia, Joana Margarida Silva, Joana Martins-Macedo, Bruna Araujo, Ana Rita Machado-Santos, Nuno Dinis Alves, Mariana Silva, Eduardo Loureiro-Campos, Ioannis Sotiropoulos, Joao Miguel Bessa, Ana Joao Rodrigues, Nuno Sousa, Patricia Patricio, Luisa Pinto
Summary: Our study demonstrates that regulation of the HPA axis response by hABN is sex-differentiated. Male GFAP-Tk rats show heightened acute stress response, while female GFAP-Tk rats exhibit increased corticosterone secretion at nadir and a heightened yet delayed response to an acute stress stimulus.
CELL PROLIFERATION
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Malena Dos Santos Guilherme, Theodora Tsoutsouli, Monika Chanu Chongtham, Jennifer Winter, Susanne Gerber, Marianne B. Mueller, Kristina Endres
Summary: Prolonged social stress is a major cause for depression and pathophysiological changes. The chronic social defeat paradigm in mice is commonly used to study this stress. However, it is limited to males and involves physical stress. Expanding models to females is desirable as the prevalence of depression is higher in women. The social instability model was tested in female mice and resulted in elevated corticosterone levels and long-term effects such as increased body weight and fat deposits. Resilience in the model was associated with upregulated neurotrophic factor artemin.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychiatry
Jan Engelmann, Harald Murck, Stefanie Wagner, Lea Zillich, Fabian Streit, David P. Herzog, Dieter F. Braus, Andre Tadic, Klaus Lieb, Marianne B. Muller
Summary: This study investigated the predictive value of peripheral markers related to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) for the outcome of antidepressant treatment. The results showed that patients with more severe depression had lower blood pressure, lower K+ levels, and higher Na+/K+ ratios. These biomarkers obtained in routine clinical settings may be useful for risk stratification in early stages of depression treatment.
WORLD JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Marta Lopes, Joana Vieira de Castro, Marta Pojo, Celine S. Goncalves, Eduarda P. Martins, Barbara Coimbra, Ioannis Sotiropoulos, Nuno Sousa, Ana Joao Rodrigues, Bruno M. Costa
Summary: The association between chronic stress and cancer is still controversial, and its role in brain tumors is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between chronic stress and glioblastoma aggressiveness using mouse models. The results suggested that chronic stress and glucocorticoids do not significantly affect the aggressiveness of glioblastoma in mice.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Malena dos Santos Guilherme, Francesco Valeri, Jennifer Winter, Marianne B. Mueller, Andreas Schwiertz, Kristina Endres
Summary: The microbiome plays an important role in resilience but does not directly influence stress susceptibility. However, it does affect the composition of the microbiome.
Article
Neurosciences
Patricia Gomes, Foteini Tzouanou, Konstantina Skolariki, Anastasia Vamvaka-Iakovou, Carlos Noguera-Ortiz, Katerina Tsirtsaki, Clarissa L. Waites, Panagiotis Vlamos, Nuno Sousa, Bruno Costa-Silva, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Ioannis Sotiropoulos
Summary: Extracellular vesicles play a critical role in the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease, both by spreading toxic proteins and reducing amyloid-beta deposition. They also have the potential for diagnosis and treatment of other brain disorders.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
G. Poggi, Malin Wennstrom, M. B. Mueller, G. Treccani
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Rita Vieira, Joana Reis, Carlos Portugal-Nunes, Ana Coelho, Ricardo Magalhaes, Sonia Ferreira, Pedro Silva Moreira, Nuno Sousa, Maria Pico-Perez, Joao M. Bessa
Summary: This study found that anticipatory cues can shift the pattern of activation in the salience/sensorimotor network of drug-naive depressed patients when processing emotional stimuli. The network shows increased activation when processing uncued emotional stimuli, but this pattern is reversed when anticipatory cues are present.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
David M. Lyons, Sarah Ayash, Alan F. Schatzberg, Marianne B. Muller
Summary: Laboratory mouse models play a crucial role in bridging the gap between basic neuroscience and applied stress research. This study examines the ecological validity of social defeat stressors in mouse models of emotional vulnerability and resilience. It was found that the majority of the reviewed reports (95%) focus on males, and many reports (71%) discuss vulnerability and resilience. Limited ecological validity leads to increased vulnerability and decreased resilience. Elements of limited ecological validity include repeated exposure to defeat stressors without opportunities to avoid or escape from pre-screened aggressive conspecifics, which is not representative of naturalistic conditions. Research is needed to establish causality and determine if ecologically valid stressors can build resilience in both sexes of mice.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Joana Martins-Macedo, Antonio Mateus-Pinheiro, Catia Alves, Fernando Veloso, Eduardo D. Gomes, Ines Ribeiro, Joana S. Correia, Tiago Silveira-Rosa, Nuno D. Alves, Ana J. Rodrigues, Joao M. Bessa, Nuno Sousa, Joao F. Oliveira, Patricia Patricio, Luisa Pinto
Summary: This study developed an automated system for exposing rodents to a standard unpredictable chronic mild stress (uCMS) protocol. Comparing manual (uCMS) and automated (auCMS) stress-exposure protocols, the data showed similar impacts on behavioral and physiological measurements. This automated method represents a step forward in preclinical research with advantages in time and standardization.
Article
Cell Biology
Patricia A. Gomes, Cristian Bodo, Carlos Nogueras-Ortiz, Martina Samiotaki, Minghao Chen, Carina Soares-Cunha, Joana M. Silva, Barbara Coimbra, George Stamatakis, Liliana Santos, George Panayotou, Foteini Tzouanou, Clarissa L. Waites, Christos Gatsogiannis, Nuno Sousa, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Bruno Costa-Silva, Ioannis Sotiropoulos
Summary: Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have great potential in the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders, and are a valuable tool for precision medicine. However, the collection and characterization of physiologically relevant EVs are of utmost importance.
CELL COMMUNICATION AND SIGNALING
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sarah Ayash, Thomas Lingner, Anna Ramisch, Soojin Ryu, Raffael Kalisch, Ulrich Schmitt, Marianne B. Mueller
Summary: This study establishes a translational mouse model that stratifies mice into three phenotypic subgroups based on their ability for threat-safety discrimination and conditioned learning. Transcriptome analysis reveals subgroup-specific differentially expressed genes and gene networks underlying the behavioral phenotypes. Overall, this research provides a valuable template for understanding the behavioral, molecular, and circuit bases of resilience in mice.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patricia Gomes, Cristian Bodo, Carlos Noguera-Ortiz, Martina Samiotaki, Minghao Chen, Carina Soares-Cunha, Joana Silva, Barbara Coimbra, George Stamatakis, Liliana Santos, George Panayotou, Clarissa L. Waites, Christos Gatsogiannis, Nuno Sousa, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Bruno Costa-Silva, Ioannis Sotiropoulos
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Meeting Abstract
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joana Margarida Silva, Patricia Amorim Gomes, Nuno Sousa, Benjamin Wolozin, Ioannis Sotiropoulos
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2022)
