RESUMO
Objective To explore the expression of acid-sensing ion channel 1a ( ASIC1a) in cen-tral nervous system of mice with panic like behavior. Methods 20 male C57BL/6 mice were randomly di-vided into two groups according to their weight( 10 mice in each group):the group experienced rat exposure test of panic-like behavior model ( RET group ) and the control group ( Ctr group ) . A panic-like behavior model was established by rat exposure stimuli. Ten minutes defensive and avoidance behaviors of mice were recorded with a horizontal video camera. The anxiety level of mice was evaluated by elevated plus maze ( EPM) test.Western blot was used to detect the ASIC 1a expression in different brain areas of prefrontal cor-tex,hippocampus and periaqueductal gray (PAG). Results Compared with Ctr group,mice in RET group spent significantly more time in freezing ((5.83±1.92)s) than that of Ctr group ((1.00±0.45)s) (P<0.01),had significantly higher frequency of risk assessment behavior (5.33±0.49) than that of Ctr group (0.60±0.40) (P<0.01),spent significantly less time to contact the wire mesh ((17.83±4.38)s) than that of Ctr group((50.00±6.90)s) (P<0.01),and significantly more time of staying in the protected area((431.00±33.13)s) than that of Ctr group((264.40±40.43)s) (P<0.01).At the same time,RET group showed sig-nificantly lower time percent ((8.28±1.12)％) than Ctr group ((16.81±2.13)％) in opened arm (P<0.05) and significantly higher time percent ((80.08±4.26)％) than Ctr group ((60.91±5.27)％) in the closed arm (P<0.05).Western blot suggested that the expression level of ASIC 1a in the prefrontal cortex (1.32± 0.05) and hippocampus (2.56±0.30) significantly increased than that of Ctr group((0.98±0.07),(1.56± 0.16)( P<0.05),while significantly decreased in the PAG (0.83± 0.02) than that of Ctr group(1.26±0.05) ( P<0.05) . Conclusion Rat exposure stimuli can induce panic-like behavior among mice,which increases the expression of ASIC 1a in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus,but decreases the level of ASIC 1a in the PAG.