| 1. |
- Studer, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Serotonin Depletion-Induced Maladaptive Aggression Requires the Presence of Androgens
- 2015
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In: Plos One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The sex hormone testosterone and the neurotransmitter serotonin exert opposite effects on several aspects of behavior including territorial aggression. It is however not settled if testosterone exerts its pro-aggressive effects by reducing serotonin transmission and/or if the anti-aggressive effect of serotonin requires the presence of the androgen. Using the resident intruder test, we now show that administration of the serotonin synthesis inhibitor parachlorophenylalanine (300 mg/kg x 3 days) increases the total time of attack as well as the percentage amount of social behavior spent on attack but not that spent on threat - i.e. that it induces a pattern of unrestricted, maladaptive aggression - in gonadectomized C57Bl/6 male mice receiving testosterone replacement; in contrast, it failed to reinstate aggression in those not given testosterone. Whereas these results suggest the pro-aggressive effect of testosterone to be independent of serotonin, and not caused by an inhibition of serotonergic activity, the pCPA-induced induction of maladaptive aggression appears to require the presence of the hormone. In line with these findings, pCPA enhanced the total time of attack as well the relative time spent on attacks but not threats also in wild-type gonadally intact male C57Bl/6 mice, but failed to reinstate aggression in mice rendered hypo-aggressive by early knock-out of androgen receptors in the brain (AR(NesDel) mice). We conclude that androgenic deficiency does not dampen aggression by unleashing an anti-aggressive serotonergic influence; instead serotonin seems to modulate aggressive behavior by exerting a parallel-coupled inhibitory role on androgen-driven aggression, which is irrelevant in the absence of the hormone, and the arresting of which leads to enhanced maladaptive aggression.
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| 2. |
- Näslund, Jakob, et al.
(author)
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Differences in anxiety-like behavior within a batch of wistar rats are associated with differences in serotonergic transmission, enhanced by acute sri administration, and abolished by serotonin depletion
- 2015
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In: International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1461-1457 .- 1469-5111. ; 18:8, s. 1-9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The anxiety-reducing effect of long-term administration of serotonin reuptake inhibitors is usually seen only in subjects with anxiety disorders, and such patients are also abnormally inclined to experience a paradoxical anxietyenhancing effect of acute serotonin reuptake inhibition. These unique responses to serotonin reuptake inhibitors in anxietyprone subjects suggest, as do genetic association studies, that inter-individual differences in anxiety may be associated with differences in serotonergic transmission. Methods: The one-third of the animals within a batch of Wistar rats most inclined to spend time on open arms in the elevated plus maze were compared with the one-third most inclined to avoid them with respect to indices of brain serotonergic transmission and how their behavior was influenced by serotonin-modulating drugs. Results: "Anxious" rats displayed higher expression of the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene and higher levels of the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 protein in raphe and also higher levels of serotonin in amygdala. Supporting these differences to be important for the behavioral differences, serotonin depletion obtained by the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine eliminated them by reducing anxiety in "anxious" but not "non-anxious" rats. Acute administration of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine, exerted an anxiety-enhancing effect in "anxious" but not "non-anxious" rats, which was eliminated by long-term pretreatment with another serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram. Conclusions: Differences in an anxiogenic impact of serotonin, which is enhanced by acute serotonin reuptake inhibitor administration, may contribute to differences in anxiety-like behavior amongst Wistar rats..
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| 3. |
- Näslund, Jakob, et al.
(author)
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Expression of 22 serotonin-related genes in rat brain after sub-acute serotonin depletion or reuptake inhibition
- 2020
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In: Acta Neuropsychiatrica. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0924-2708 .- 1601-5215. ; 32:3, s. 159-165
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: Although the assessment of expression of serotonin-related genes in experimental animals has become a common strategy to shed light on variations in brain serotonergic function, it remains largely unknown to what extent the manipulation of serotonin levels causes detectable changes in gene expression. We therefore chose to investigate how sub-acute depletion or elevation of brain serotonin influences the expression of a number of serotonin-related genes in six brain areas. Methods: Male Wistar rats were administered a serotonin synthesis inhibitor, para-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA), or a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine, for 3 days and then sacrificed. The expression of a number of serotonin-related genes in the raphe nuclei, hypothalamus, amygdala, striatum, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was investigated using real-time quantitative PCR (rt-qPCR). Results: While most of the studied genes were uninfluenced by paroxetine treatment, we could observe a robust downregulation of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 in the brain region where the serotonergic cell bodies reside, that is, the raphe nuclei. p-CPA induced a significant increase in the expression of Htr1b and Htr2a in amygdala and of Htr2c in the striatum and a marked reduction in the expression of Htr6 in prefrontal cortex; it also enhanced the expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) in raphe and hippocampus. Conclusion: With some notable exceptions, the expression of most of the studied genes is left unchanged by short-term modulation of extracellular levels of serotonin.
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