Neural substrates of fear conditioning, extinction, and spontaneous recovery in passive avoidance learning: a c-fos study in rats.

Extinguishing fear conditioning and preventing the return of fear are the goal in the treatment of anxiety disorders. However, the neural substrates that mediate fear conditioning, extinction, and spontaneous recovery (i.e., the return of fear) remain uncertain. We utilized the aversive passive avoidance learning paradigm and Fos-like immunoreactivity to elucidate this issue. Exception for naïve rats that did not receive any treatment served as the control group, the other rats were subjected to three sessions of context/footshock (0.5 mA, 2s) pairings followed by 12 extinction sessions (context-no footshock). After the last extinction test, these rats were assigned to one of three groups reflecting the number of resting days before the test session (context-no footshock): Day 8, Day 9, and Day 10 groups. Only the Day 10 group exhibited spontaneous recovery during the test session. Fos-like immunoreactivity associated with fear conditioning was seen in the amygdala and cingulate cortex area 1 (Cg1). The extinction of fear was seen to be related to Cg1, cingulate cortex area 2 (Cg2), piriform cortex (Pir), and entorhinal cortex (Ect). Spontaneous recovery was seen to be related to amygdala, Pir, and Ect. The present findings indicate that the brain substrates of fear acquisition, extinction and spontaneous recovery have different ensembles of brain activations. These differences suggest that different brain targets may be considered for fear extinction and for avoiding the return of fear in anxiety disorders.

Spontaneous inflammatory pain model from a mouse line with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis.

BACKGROUND: N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis was used to induce a point mutation in C57BL/6 J mice. Pain-related phenotype screening was performed in 915 G3 mice. We report the detection of a heritable recessive mutant in meiotic recombinant N1F1 mice that caused an abnormal pain sensitivity phenotype with spontaneous skin inflammation in the paws and ears. METHODS: We investigated abnormal sensory processing, neuronal peptides, and behavioral responses after the induction of autoinflammatory disease. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and polymerase chain reaction product sequencing were used to identify the mutation site. RESULTS: All affected mice developed paw inflammation at 4-8 weeks. Histological examinations revealed hyperplasia of the epidermis in the inflamed paws and increased macrophage expression in the spleen and paw tissues. Mechanical and thermal nociceptive response thresholds were reduced in the affected mice. Locomotor activity was decreased in affected mice with inflamed hindpaws, and this reduction was attributable to the avoidance of contact of the affected paw with the floor. Motor strength and daily activity in the home cage in the affected mice did not show any significant changes. Although Fos immunoreactivity was normal in the dorsal horn of affected mice, calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactivity significantly increased in the deep layer of the dorsal horn. The number of microglia increased in the spinal cord, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex in affected mice, and the proliferation of microglia was maintained for a couple of months. Two hundred eighty-five SNP markers were used to reveal the affected gene locus, which was found on the distal part of chromosome 18. A point mutation was detected at A to G in exon 8 of the pstpip2 gene, resulting in a conserved tyrosine residue at amino acid 180 replaced by cysteine (Y180 C). CONCLUSIONS: The data provide definitive evidence that a mutation in pstpip2 causes autoinflammatory disease in an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis mouse model. Thus, our pstpip2 mutant mice provide a new model for investigating the potential mechanisms of inflammatory pain.

Anxiety- and depressive-like responses and c-fos activity in preproenkephalin knockout mice: oversensitivity hypothesis of enkephalin deficit-induced posttraumatic stress disorder.

The present study used the preproenkephalin knockout (ppENK) mice to test whether the endogenous enkephalins deficit could facilitate the anxiety- and depressive-like symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On Day 1, sixteen wildtype (WT) and sixteen ppENK male mice were given a 3 mA or no footshock treatment for 10 seconds in the footshock apparatus, respectively. On Days 2, 7, and 13, all mice were given situational reminders for 1 min per trial, and the freezing response was assessed. On Day 14, all mice were tested in the open field test, elevated plus maze, light/dark avoidance test, and forced swim test. Two hours after the last test, brain tissues were stained to examine c-fos expression in specific brain areas. The present results showed that the conditioned freezing response was significant for different genotypes (ppENK vs WT). The conditioned freezing effect of the ppENK mice was stronger than those of the WT mice. On Day 14, the ppENK mice showed more anxiety- and depressive-like responses than WT mice. The magnitude of Fos immunolabeling was also significantly greater in the primary motor cortex, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis-lateral division, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis-supracapsular division, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus-lateral magnocellular part, central nucleus of the amygdala, and basolateral nucleus of the amygdala in ppENK mice compared with WT mice. In summary, animals with an endogenous deficit in enkephalins might be more sensitive to PTSD-like aversive stimuli and elicit stronger anxiety and depressive PTSD symptoms, suggesting an oversensitivity hypothesis of enkephalin deficit-induced PTSD.

Differential regulation of morphine antinociceptive effects by endogenous enkephalinergic system in the forebrain of mice.

BACKGROUND: Mice lacking the preproenkephalin (ppENK) gene are hyperalgesic and show more anxiety and aggression than wild-type (WT) mice. The marked behavioral changes in ppENK knock-out (KO) mice appeared to occur in supraspinal response to painful stimuli. However the functional role of enkephalins in the supraspinal nociceptive processing and their underlying mechanism is not clear. The aim of present study was to compare supraspinal nociceptive and morphine antinociceptive responses between WT and ppENK KO mice. RESULTS: The genotypes of bred KO mice were confirmed by PCR. Met-enkephalin immunoreactive neurons were labeled in the caudate-putamen, intermediated part of lateral septum, lateral globus pallidus, intermediated part of lateral septum, hypothalamus, and amygdala of WT mice. Met-enkephalin immunoreactive neurons were not found in the same brain areas in KO mice. Tail withdrawal and von Frey test results did not differ between WT and KO mice. KO mice had shorter latency to start paw licking than WT mice in the hot plate test. The maximal percent effect of morphine treatments (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) differed between WT and KO mice in hot plate test. The current source density (CSD) profiles evoked by peripheral noxious stimuli in the primary somatosenstory cortex (S1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were similar in WT and KO mice. After morphine injection, the amplitude of the laser-evoked sink currents was decreased in S1 while the amplitude of electrical-evoked sink currents was increased in the ACC. These differential morphine effects in S1 and ACC were enhanced in KO mice. Facilitation of synaptic currents in the ACC is mediated by GABA inhibitory interneurons in the local circuitry. Percent increases in opioid receptor binding in S1 and ACC were 5.1% and 5.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present results indicate that the endogenous enkephalin system is not involved in acute nociceptive transmission in the spinal cord, S1, and ACC. However, morphine preferentially suppressed supraspinal related nociceptive behavior in KO mice. This effect was reflected in the potentiated differential effects of morphine in the S1 and ACC in KO mice. This potentiation may be due to an up-regulation of opioid receptors. Thus these findings strongly suggest an antagonistic interaction between the endogenous enkephalinergic system and exogenous opioid analgesic actions in the supraspinal brain structures.