Sex-Specific Retinal Anomalies Induced by Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Mice

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common consequences of chronic stress. Still, there is currently no reliable biomarker to detect individuals at risk to develop the disease. Recently, the retina emerged as an effective way to investigate psychiatric disorders using the electroretinogram (ERG). In this study, cone and rod ERGs were performed in male and female C57BL/6 mice before and after chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). Mice were then divided as susceptible or resilient to stress. Our results suggest that CSDS reduces the amplitude of both oscillatory potentials and a-waves in the rods of resilient but not susceptible males. Similar effects were revealed following the analysis of the cone b-waves, which were faster after CSDS in resilient mice specifically. In females, rod ERGs revealed age-related changes with no change in cone ERGs. Finally, our analysis suggests that baseline ERG can predict with an efficacy up to 71% the expression of susceptibility and resilience before stress exposition in males and females. Overall, our findings suggest that retinal activity is a valid biomarker of stress response that could potentially serve as a tool to predict whether males and females will become susceptible or resilient when facing CSDS.

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Sex-specific retinal anomalies induced by chronic social stress in mice

10.1101/2020.09.28.317230 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

E Arsenault ◽

AA Lavigne ◽

S Mansouri ◽

K Francis ◽

TP Bittar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Response ◽

Social Stress ◽

Social Defeat ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Male And Female ◽

Retinal Activity ◽

Female Mice ◽

Chronic Social Defeat Stress ◽

Before And After ◽

The Brain

AbstractMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common consequences of chronic stress. Still, there is currently no reliable biomarker to detect individuals at risk to develop MDD. Recently, the retina emerged as an effective way to approach the brain and investigate psychiatric disorders with the use of the electroretinogram (ERG). In this study, cones and rods ERGs were performed in male and female mice before and after chronic social defeat stress (CSDS). Mice were then divided as susceptible or resilient to stress. Significant results were only observed in rods ERGs. In males, susceptible mice showed prolonged a-wave implicit times at baseline that were shortened after CSDS. The a-wave was also decreased in both susceptible and resilient male mice after CSDS. In females, rod a-waves were shorter in susceptible than in control mice after CSDS resulting from the latter demonstrating delayed a-waves. Baseline ERGs were able to predict – to some extent – the expression of susceptibility and resilience before stress exposition in male and female mice. Overall, our findings suggest that retinal activity is a presumptive biomarker of stress response and that the ERG could potentially serve as a predicting tool of the stress response in mice.

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Chronic social defeat stress: Impact on sleep in susceptible mice

10.26226/morressier.5971be85d462b80290b52711 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Fiona Henderson

Keyword(s):

Social Defeat ◽

Social Defeat Stress ◽

Chronic Social Defeat Stress

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Brain histamine and oleoylethanolamide restore behavioral deficits induced by chronic social defeat stress in mice

Neurobiology of Stress ◽

10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100317 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100317

Author(s):

Barbara Rani ◽

Andrea Santangelo ◽

Adele Romano ◽

Justyna Barbara Koczwara ◽

Marzia Friuli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Defeat ◽

Social Defeat Stress ◽

Behavioral Deficits ◽

Brain Histamine ◽

Chronic Social Defeat Stress

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Low-Molecular Weight BDNF Mimetic, Dimeric Dipeptide GSB-106, Reverses Depressive Symptoms in Mouse Chronic Social Defeat Stress

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11020252 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 252

Author(s):

Tatiana A. Gudasheva ◽

Anna V. Tallerova ◽

Armen G. Mezhlumyan ◽

Tatyana A. Antipova ◽

Ilya O. Logvinov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dose Range ◽

Social Defeat ◽

Social Defeat Stress ◽

In Vivo Experiments ◽

Trk Receptor ◽

Chronic Social Defeat Stress ◽

Swimming Test ◽

Scientific Group

A mimetic of the BDNF loop 4, bis (N-monosuccinyl-L-seryl-L-lysine) hexamethylenediamide, named GSB-106, was designed and synthesized in our scientific group. The compound activated TrkB, MAPK/ERK, PI3K/AKT, and PLCγ in in vitro experiments. In vivo experiments with rodents revealed its antidepressant-like activity in the forced swim and the tail suspension tests at the dose range of 0.1–5.0 mg/kg (i.p., p.o.). However, GSB-106 was not studied in depression models modulating major depression in humans. In the present study, the GSB-106 antidepressant-like activity was revealed in mice at the depression model induced by 28-day social defeat stress with 21-days oral administration (0.1 mg/kg) after stress. At the same time, GSB-106 restored reduced locomotor activity and completely eliminated the anhedonia manifestations. The compound also restored reduced levels of synaptophysin and CREB in the hippocampus. In addition, the Trk receptor antagonist K252A, and the PLC inhibitor U73122, were found to completely block the antidepressant-like activity of GSB-106 in the forced swimming test in mice. Thus, the present results demonstrate the dipeptide BDNF mimetic GSB-106 reversed depressive-like behavior and restored hippocampal neuroplasticity in a rodent depression model. These effects of GSB-106 are probably regulated by TrkB signaling.

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