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Behavioral effects of glucocorticoids during the first exposures to the forced swim stress

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Abstract

Rationale

Glucocorticoids facilitate coping with stress, but their high levels have been also implicated in mood disorders. Due to this duality, the role of glucocorticoid signaling in the development of the first episodes of stress-induced depression remains unclear.

Objectives

To address this issue, effects of the glucocorticoid signal modulation on depressive-like behavior during pretest and test Porsolt swim sessions were examined.

Methods

Metyrapone (MET; 150 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected 3 h before pretest to block stress-induced increase in corticosterone levels. Dexamethasone (DEX; 0.2 mg/kg, s.c.) was applied to MET-treated rats 1 h before both pretest and test sessions. In addition to behavior during these sessions, glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry 2 h after the second swim.

Results

In pretest, MET-treated rats exhibited increased latency to immobility and shortened immobility. DEX reversed the behavioral effects of MET in the pretest. In the test, animals from MET + DEX group unexpectedly exhibited an antidepressant-like behavior. Swim stress increased GR expression in the frontal cortex irrespective of the pharmacological treatment. A significant elevation in GR expression was found in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of stressed MET + DEX-treated rats and in the PFC of unstressed rats 6 h after injection of DEX alone.

Conclusion

The data suggest that the increase in glucocorticoid levels under swim stress during pretest directly contributes to the development of the immobility response. Transition of DEX effect from prodepressant in the pretest to an antidepressant in the test was associated with the elevation in the PFC GR expression.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Russian Fund for Basic Research N 12-04-01102 and Grant from RAS N 6.19.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Functional Neurogenomics, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Galina T. Shishkina, Veta V. Bulygina & Nikolay N. Dygalo

  2. Department of Physiology, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Nikolay N. Dygalo

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  1. Galina T. Shishkina
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  2. Veta V. Bulygina
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  3. Nikolay N. Dygalo
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Correspondence to Galina T. Shishkina.

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Shishkina, G.T., Bulygina, V.V. & Dygalo, N.N. Behavioral effects of glucocorticoids during the first exposures to the forced swim stress. Psychopharmacology 232, 851–860 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3718-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3718-8

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