Pharmacological Alterations of Anxious Behaviour in Mice Depending on Both Strain and the Behavioural Situation |
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| Authors: | Yan Clément Anne-Marie Le Guisquet Patrice Venault Georges Chapouthier Catherine Belzung |
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| Institution: | 1. Université Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.; 2. Psychobiologie des émotions, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Parc Grandmont, Tours, France.; 3. Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 7225, Inserm, U 975, Paris, France.; 4. USR CNRS 3246 Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.;University of Queensland, Australia |
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| Abstract: | A previous study comparing non-emotive mice from the strain C57BL/6/ByJ with ABP/Le mice showed ABP/Le to be more anxious in an open-field situation. In the present study, several compounds affecting anxiety were assayed on ABP/Le and C57BL/6/ByJ mice using three behavioural models of anxiety: the elevated plus-maze, the light-dark discrimination test and the free exploratory paradigm. The compounds used were the full benzodiazepine receptor agonist, chlordiazepoxide, and the antagonist, flumazenil, the GABAA antagonist, bicuculline, the full 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT, and the mixed 5-HT1A/5-HT1B agonist, RU 24969. Results showed the effect of the compounds to be dependent on both the strain and the behavioural task. Several compounds found to be anxiolytic in ABP/Le mice had an anxiogenic effect on C57BL/6/ByJ mice. More behavioural changes were observed for ABP/Le in the elevated plus-maze, but the clearest findings for C57BL/6/ByJ mice were observed in the light-dark discrimination apparatus. These data demonstrate that anxious behaviour is a complex phenomenon which cannot be described by a single behavioural task nor by the action of a single compound. |
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