Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Department of Physiological Sciences, Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Biology Institute, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Curr Neuropharmacol. 2023;21(9):1864-1883. doi: 10.2174/1570159X20666221012121534.
The Carioca rat lines originated from the selective bidirectional breeding of mates displaying extreme defense responses to contextual conditioned fear. After three generations, two distinct populations could be distinguished: the Carioca High- and Low-conditioned Freezing rats, CHF, and CLF, respectively. Later studies identified strong anxiety-like behaviors in the CHF line, while indications of impulsivity and hyperactivity were prominent in the CLF animals. The present review details the physiological and pharmacological-related findings obtained from these lines. The results discussed here point towards a dysfunctional fear circuitry in CHF rats, including alterations in key brain structures and the serotoninergic system. Moreover, data from these animals highlight important alterations in the stress-processing machinery and its associated systems, such as energy metabolism and antioxidative defense. Finally, evidence of an alteration in the dopaminergic pathway in CLF rats is also debated. Thus, accumulating data gathered over the years, place the Carioca lines as significant animal models for the study of psychiatric disorders, especially fear-related ones like anxiety.
卡里奥卡大鼠品系源自于对表现出极端情境条件性恐惧防御反应的配偶进行有选择的双向繁殖。经过三代，就可以区分出两个不同的种群：卡里奥卡高条件性冻结大鼠（Carioca High- conditioned Freezing rats，CHF）和卡里奥卡低条件性冻结大鼠（Carioca Low-conditioned Freezing rats，CLF）。后来的研究表明，CHF 品系具有强烈的焦虑样行为，而 CLF 动物则表现出冲动和多动的迹象。本综述详细介绍了从这些品系中获得的与生理和药理学相关的发现。这里讨论的结果表明，CHF 大鼠的恐惧回路功能失调，包括关键脑结构和 5-羟色胺能系统的改变。此外，这些动物的数据还突出了应激处理机制及其相关系统（如能量代谢和抗氧化防御）的重要改变。最后，关于 CLF 大鼠多巴胺能通路改变的证据也存在争议。因此，多年来积累的数据表明，卡里奥卡大鼠是研究精神疾病的重要动物模型，特别是与焦虑相关的精神疾病。
