Effect of chronic stress on behavior and cerebral oxidative metabolism in rats with high or low positive affect.

The 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats have been associated with positive affect and rewarding experience. We have previously reported that stable inter-individual differences exist in the expression of these USVs (chirps). We have examined the effect of four weeks of chronic variable stress on cerebral oxidative metabolism, and depression and anxiety related behavior in male and female high (HC) and low (LC) chirping rats. Significant differences in regional oxidative metabolic activity as measured by cytochrome c oxidase (COX) histochemistry were found between male and female rats: Females had lower oxidative metabolism in several brainstem areas such as dorsal and median raphe and pontine nucleus, some cortical areas, and reward-related forebrain regions such as striatum and nucleus accumbens, but higher oxidative metabolism in amygdala and related limbic regions. Chronic stress increased oxidative metabolism in several depression-related brain regions in male but not female LC-rats such as amygdala, hippocampus and anterior thalamus. No systematic behavioral effect of stress was evident in females. In LC males, stress elicited increased levels of 22-kHz USVs, earlier and more stable reduction of weight gain, persistently lower sucrose intake and preference, and higher levels of immobility in the forced swimming test. These behavioral changes, accompanied by increased oxidative metabolism in limbic brain regions, indicate greater vulnerability to stress of male LC-rats, and suggest that in males low inherent positive affectivity predisposes to anxiety and affective disorders.

Rats with high or low sociability are differently affected by chronic variable stress.

Depression is strongly related to social behavior. We have previously shown that social behavior of rats is individually stable. The purpose of the present study was to compare the sensitivity of animals with different sociability to chronic variable stress (CVS). Four social interaction tests were performed with 60 single-housed male Sprague-Dawley rats. Twenty rats with the lowest and 20 with the highest average social activity time were selected as low sociability (LS) and high sociability (HS) rats, respectively. Both groups were further divided into control and stress groups with equal average body weight. The CVS procedure lasted for 3 weeks. The stressors applied were cold water and wet bedding, imitation of injection, stroboscopic light, movement restriction in a small cage, tail pinch with a clothespin, and strong illumination during the predicted dark phase. In HS-rats, but not in LS-rats, CVS reduced sucrose intake compared with baseline after 3 weeks, suggesting that HS-rats are more vulnerable to anhedonia elicited by CVS. LS-animals were more anxious in the social interaction and open field tests, but stress eliminated differences with HS-animals in the social interaction test and increased their activity in the forced swimming test. In LS-rats stress increased ex vivo dopamine levels and reduced 5-HT levels in the frontal cortex, suggesting that the increased behavioral activity after stress may be related to increased impulsivity. This study thus revealed that animals with high sociability trait are more vulnerable to anhedonia elicited by chronic stress in conditions of single housing.

Effects of low dose N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine administration on exploratory and amphetamine-induced behavior and dopamine D2 receptor function in rats with high or low exploratory activity.

Individual differences in behavioral traits are associated with sensitivity to various neurochemical and psychopharmacological manipulations. In this study exploratory and amphetamine-induced behavior in rats with persistently high or low exploratory activity (HE and LE, respectively) was examined before and after a partial denervation of the locus coeruleus (LC) projections with the selective neurotoxin DSP-4 (N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine; 10 mg/kg). Partial LC denervation prevented the increase in exploratory activity over repeated test sessions in the LE animals, but had no effect in HE-rats. Amphetamine- (0.5 mg/kg) induced locomotor activity was attenuated by DSP-4 pretreatment only in HE-rats. These results suggest differential involvement of LC noradrenergic transmission in novelty- and amphetamine-induced behavior in animals with persistent differences in novelty-related behavior. In addition to partial noradrenaline depletion in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, which occurred in both HE- and LE-rats, DSP-4 treatment also decreased the content of dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens, and the metabolite levels in striatum, but only in the LE-animals. 5-HIAA levels were also reduced in the nucleus accumbens and striatum in LE-rats by the neurotoxin. D(2) receptor function, as determined by dopamine-stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding, was increased by DSP-4 treatment in the striatum of LE-rats, but reduced in HE-rats. No effect of partial LC denervation was found on dopamine-stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding in the nucleus accumbens. Together these findings suggest that LC noradrenergic neurotransmission is differently involved in dopaminergic mechanisms which mediate novelty-related vs amphetamine-induced behavior.

Health status of the older population in Estonia.

AIM: To assess the prevalence of physical, depressive, and cognitive disorders in the elderly population in Estonia. METHODS: The prevalence of various common morbidities was determined by a questionnaire sent to 200 general practitioners (GP). GPs were asked to collect data, use medical records, and interview five randomly selected patients (a total of 1,000 people aged 65 years or older). Physical morbidities of older persons were assessed according to their self-reports and reports of their general practitioners. Depressive symptoms and cognitive status were determined by 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale and Mini Mental State Examination, respectively. Response rate was 81%. RESULTS: The prevalences of diseases were as follows: hypertension 63.2%, arthritis 61.3%, ischemic heart disease 56.5% (history of myocardial infarction, 9.8%), heart failure 41.4%, heart rhythm disorders 37.5%, hypercholesterolemia 25.4%, kidney and/or urinary disorders 20.5%, osteoporosis 15.5%, diabetes mellitus 14.9%, chronic airway diseases 13.8% (emphysema 5.8%, asthma 5.5%), hypotension 11.1%, gastroduodenal peptic ulcers 10.6%, thyroid diseases 8.9%, malignant tumors 8.1%, psychiatric disorders 5.7%, and stroke 5.3%. Depressive symptoms were found in 40.3% and cognitive impairment in 22.5% of the elderly persons. CONCLUSIONS: The general structure of diseases in the Estonian elderly population is similar to that of other European countries, but the prevalence of cardiovascular, depressive, and cognitive disorders is much higher.