Abderrahim Laaziz, Hicham El Mostafi, Aboubaker Elhessni, Fatima Azeroil, Tarik Touil, Soufiane Boumlah, Abdelhalim Mesfioui
Biology And Health Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco.
Higher Institute of Nursing and Health Professions of Rabat, Morocco.
AIMS Neurosci. 2022 Apr 29;9(2):228-249. doi: 10.3934/Neuroscience.2022012. eCollection 2022.
The stress response is attached to psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, it is important to comprehend the underlying mechanisms influencing this relationship. Moreover, men and women respond differently to stress-both psychologically and biologically. These differences should be studied to have an enhanced understanding of the gender difference. However, researches shedding light on sex dimorphism implication have historically been insufficient. Based on observations that advocate the inclusion of sex as a biological variable in stress response, the present study was designed to explore sex differences in (i) depressive-like, (ii) anxiety-like behaviors, (iii) cognitive-like performances, and (iv) voluntary ethanol intake (VEI) in Wistar rat submitted to dexamethasone (DEX)-stress simulation. Rats were administered daily with DEX (1.5 mg/kg, s.c., 21 days) or vehicle. Behavior, cognitive, and VEI states of rats were evaluated in the following paradigms: forced swimming test (FST); saccharin preference test (SPT); open field test (OFT); elevated plus-maze test (EPMT); novelty suppressed feeding test (NSFT); spatial learning and memory in Morris water maze test (MWMT); VEI in two-bottle choice paradigm. DEX-treated rats showed a set of depression-like behaviors: increased time of immobility; reduced preference for saccharin consumption; increased anxiety-like behavior; cognitive impairments; and enhanced VEI. Sexual dimorphism was recorded in this study. Females were more impaired in FST, SPT, EPMT, NSFT, and VEI. Results demonstrate that DEX-treatment induced a behavioral alterations related to anxiety-depressive-like state with learning and memory impairments; confirm the facilitatory role of glucocorticoids on VEI and reveal sexual dimorphism in stress response.
应激反应与身心疾病和精神疾病相关。因此，理解影响这种关系的潜在机制很重要。此外，男性和女性在心理和生理上对应激的反应不同。应该研究这些差异，以加深对性别差异的理解。然而，历史上关于性别差异影响的研究一直不足。基于主张将性别作为应激反应中的一个生物学变量的观察结果，本研究旨在探讨接受地塞米松（DEX）应激模拟的Wistar大鼠在以下方面的性别差异：（i）抑郁样行为，（ii）焦虑样行为，（iii）认知样表现，以及（iv）自愿乙醇摄入量（VEI）。大鼠每天给予DEX（1.5mg/kg，皮下注射，21天）或赋形剂。通过以下范式评估大鼠的行为、认知和VEI状态：强迫游泳试验（FST）；糖精偏好试验（SPT）；旷场试验（OFT）；高架十字迷宫试验（EPMT）；新奇抑制摄食试验（NSFT）；Morris水迷宫试验（MWMT）中的空间学习和记忆；双瓶选择范式中的VEI。接受DEX治疗的大鼠表现出一系列抑郁样行为：不动时间增加；对糖精消耗的偏好降低；焦虑样行为增加；认知障碍；以及VEI增加。本研究记录到了性别差异。雌性大鼠在FST、SPT、EPMT、NSFT和VEI方面受损更严重。结果表明，DEX治疗诱导了与焦虑抑郁样状态相关的行为改变，并伴有学习和记忆障碍；证实了糖皮质激素对VEI的促进作用，并揭示了应激反应中的性别差异。
