Comparison of the construct validity of anxiety animal models in Kunming mice between young and old / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of different ages on behavioral dimensions of anxiety animal models in Kunming mice.Methods Young/Old,male,Kunming mice were recorded twice,for five minutes,with a one-week inter-trial interval in open field test (OFT),elevated plus maze (EPM) and light/dark box (LDB).The following parameters were evaluatedpercentage of time spent in the OFT central area (Ctime％),percentage of number of squares visited in the OFT central area (Ccross％),the total number of horizontal squares in OFT (Cross),the total number of rears in OFT (Rear),percentage of time spent in the EPM open arms (Otime％),percentage of number of entries into the EPM open arms (Oentries％),the total number of entries into the EPM open and closed arms (Entries),percentage of time exploring in the LDB light area (Ltime％),percentage of number of squares crossing in the LDB light area (Lcross％),percentage of rears in the LDB light area (Lrear％),the total number of transition in LDB (Transition),the total number of horizontal squares in LDB (Cross) and the total number of rears in LDB (Rear).Results OFT-Ctime％,OFT-Ccross％,EPM-Otime％,EPM-Oentries％,LDB-Ltime％,LDB-Lcross％ and LDB-Lrear％ had significant loadings on anxiety factor; OFTCross,EPM-Entries,LDB-Transition and LDB-Cross loaded on locomotion-exploration factor.Old mice had higher anxiety emotion (Ctime％,t =3.12,P＜ 0.01; Ccross％,t =2.37,P＜ 0.01; Otime％,t =1.31,P＜ 0.05; Oentries％,t=1.57,P＜0.05; Ltime％,t=4.15,P＜0.01 ; Lcross％,t=3.28,P＜0.01 ; Lrear％,t=2.73,P＜0.01) and lower locomotion and exploratory activity (Cross,t =2.05,P ＜ 0.01 ; Entries,t =2.09,P ＜ 0.05 ;Transition,t=2.51,P＜0.01; Cross,t=3.02,P＜0.01),compared with Young.Conclusion Ages have no effect on structural dimensions of anxiety animal models.With the growth of ages,old mice have higher anxiety emotion but lower locomotion and exploratory activity.