Impact of Exposure to Environmental Enrichment on the Anxiety-Like Behavior of Ovariectomized Mice.
Iran J Psychiatry
; 15(1): 88-95, 2020 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32377218
ABSTRACT
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore the influence of short-term (2-week) exposure to social (SE) and/or physical enrichment (PE) on the anxiety-like behavior of ovariectomized (OVX) NIH Swiss mice.Method:
One week after surgery, each OVX mouse was housed under one of 4 social conditions (1) isolated, (2) accompanied by an intact female, (3) accompanied by an intact male, or (4) in a community of 10 OVX individuals. The animals in each of these environments were divided into 2 subgroups, consisting of the presence and absence of PE. Following a 2-week exposure to the respective conditions, each OVX mouse was subjected to either the light/dark exploration test (LDT) or the elevated plus maze (EPM) to examine anxiety-like behavior.Results:
The LDT and EPM showed very similar patterns. Compared to an impoverished environment, PE elicited a significant anxiolytic effect for OVX mice housed alone or in companion of an intact female (F [1, 54] = 16.11, P = 0.001). By contrast, mice living in community but without PE displayed anxiogenic-like behavior, perhaps due to crowding, compared to the animals living in isolation (F [1, 36] = 5.64, P = 0.023).Conclusion:
This study emphasized the importance of taking housing conditions into account during the screening of new anxiolytic agents and the critical role of OVX in the regulation of anxiety.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Iran J Psychiatry
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article