Hu Congli, Luo Ying, Wang Hong, Kuang Shengnan, Liang Guojuan, Yang Yang, Mai Shaoshan, Yang Junqing
Department of Pharmacology, Chongqing Medical University, the Key Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Chongqing, China.
PLoS One. 2017 Sep 20;12(9):e0185129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185129. eCollection 2017.
The chronic unpredictable mild stress model of depression has been widely used as an experimental tool to investigate human psychopathology. Our objective was to provide an update on the validity and reliability of the chronic unpredictable mild stress model, by analyzing the interrelationships among the indexes using stepwise discriminant analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient to examine the possible combinations. We evaluated the depressive rats in both the presence and the absence of chronic unpredictable mild stress, using weight change, percentage of sucrose preference, coat state, splash test, open-field test, elevated plus-maze test, forced swimming test, and Morris water maze test. The results showed that 6-week-long chronic unpredictable mild stress produces significant depression and anxiety-like behavior. The combination of body weight change, percentage of sucrose preference, coat state score, open-field score, grooming latency of splash test, immobility time in force swimming test, and platform crossing in the Morris water maze test can effectively discriminate between normal and chronic unpredictable mild stress rats. Strong interrelationships were noted among these indexes in both open-field test and elevated plus-maze test. In conclusion, there might be certain criteria for the combination of behavioral endpoints, which is advantageous to more effectively and reliably assess the chronic unpredictable mild stress induced depression model.
抑郁症的慢性不可预测轻度应激模型已被广泛用作研究人类精神病理学的实验工具。我们的目的是通过使用逐步判别分析和皮尔逊相关系数分析指标之间的相互关系，以检验可能的组合，从而更新慢性不可预测轻度应激模型的有效性和可靠性。我们在有和没有慢性不可预测轻度应激的情况下评估抑郁大鼠，采用体重变化、蔗糖偏好百分比、皮毛状态、喷水试验、旷场试验、高架十字迷宫试验、强迫游泳试验和莫里斯水迷宫试验。结果表明，为期6周的慢性不可预测轻度应激会产生显著的抑郁和焦虑样行为。体重变化、蔗糖偏好百分比、皮毛状态评分、旷场评分、喷水试验中的梳理潜伏期、强迫游泳试验中的不动时间以及莫里斯水迷宫试验中的平台穿越次数的组合能够有效区分正常大鼠和慢性不可预测轻度应激大鼠。在旷场试验和高架十字迷宫试验中，这些指标之间均存在密切的相互关系。总之，行为终点的组合可能存在一定标准，这有利于更有效、可靠地评估慢性不可预测轻度应激诱导的抑郁模型。
