Summary

La prueba de natación forzada como un modelo de depresivo-como comportamiento

Published: March 02, 2015
doi:

Summary

This protocol describes the forced swim test, which is used for the study of depressive-like behavior in rodents. This procedure involves placing an animal in a container filled with water that eventually will lead to the exhibition of immobility behavior, which is considered to reflect behavioral despair.

Abstract

The goal of the present protocol is to describe the forced swim test (FST), which is one of the most commonly used assays for the study of depressive-like behavior in rodents. The FST is based on the assumption that when placing an animal in a container filled with water, it will first make efforts to escape but eventually will exhibit immobility that may be considered to reflect a measure of behavioral despair. This test has been extensively used because it involves the exposure of the animals to stress, which was shown to have a role in the tendency for major depression. Additionally, the FST has been shown to share some of the factors that are influenced or altered by depression in humans, including changes in food consumption, sleep abnormalities and drug-withdrawal-induced anhedonia. The main advantages of this procedure are that it is relatively easy to perform and that its results are easily and quickly analyzed. Moreover, its sensitivity to a broad range of antidepressant drugs that makes it a suitable screening test is one of the most important features leading to its high predictive validity. Despite its appeal, this model has a number of disadvantages. First, the issue of chronic augmentation is problematic in this test because in real life patients need to be treated for at least several weeks before they experience any relief from their symptoms. Last, due to the aversiveness of the FST, it is important to take into account possible influences it might have on brain structure/function if brain analyses are to be carried out following this procedure.

Introduction

La depresión es un trastorno psiquiátrico que amenaza la vida y un importante problema de salud pública a nivel mundial, con una incidencia del 5% y una prevalencia del 15-20%. Por otra parte, se estima que en 2020 la depresión será en los tres principales contribuyentes a la carga de la enfermedad 1,2. La depresión se asocia con discapacidad, disminución de la calidad de vida, el aumento de los costos relacionados con la salud y se considera un factor de riesgo para muchas enfermedades, incluyendo cardiovasculares, metabólicas y trastornos neuropsiquiátricos 3,4 .Current tratamientos fármaco-terapéutico tienen una eficacia limitada y están asociados con muchos efectos secundarios perjudiciales 5,6. Por lo tanto, una mejor comprensión de la fisiopatología de este trastorno junto con el desarrollo de tratamientos innovadores y mejorados sigue siendo crucial. Por lo tanto, los modelos animales son esenciales para el avance de la investigación en este campo.

Hay muchos modelos utilizados para el estudio de este trastorno (<em> prueba de preferencia por ejemplo, sacarosa, prueba de suspensión de la cola) con la prueba de natación forzada (FST, también conocido como el ensayo de Porsolt después de que el desarrollador de este modelo 7,8) siendo uno de los ensayos más utilizados 7,9-12.

Durante el FST un animal se coloca en un recipiente lleno de agua de la que no puede escapar. El animal primero tratará de escapar pero finalmente exhibirá la inmovilidad (es decir, flotando con la ausencia de cualquier movimiento excepción de las necesarias para mantener la nariz fuera del agua). La FST es un modelo muy popular en la investigación con animales para un número de razones. En primer lugar, implica la exposición de los animales al estrés, que fue demostrado tener un papel en la tendencia de la depresión mayor 12-14. Por otra parte la depresión es a menudo visto como una falta de capacidad para manejar el estrés 15-17. En segundo lugar, el tratamiento farmacológico con antidepresivos antes de la prueba se ha demostrado para reducir la inmovilidad en la FST <sup> 18-23. Por lo tanto, se utiliza a menudo como un ensayo de selección para nuevos compuestos con propiedades antidepresivas potenciales 15-17,24. Además, el FST se ha demostrado que compartir algunos de los factores que se ven influidas o alteradas por la depresión en los seres humanos, tales como cambios en el consumo de alimentos, alteraciones del sueño y anhedonia 15-17,24 drogas retirada inducida. Esta es también la razón por la cual esta prueba se utiliza a veces para evaluar el comportamiento de tipo depresivo en ratones mutantes, con aumento o disminución en la inmovilidad basal (en comparación con ratones de "tipo salvaje") 25,26.

Protocol

NOTA: Todos los protocolos experimentales fueron aprobados por el Comité Internacional para el Cuidado de Animales y el empleo en Israel. Se hicieron todos los esfuerzos para reducir al mínimo el número de animales utilizados y su sufrimiento. 1. Preparación para la prueba de natación forzada Utilice dos habitaciones contiguas. Use una habitación con una "sala de espera" para la celebración de los animales antes de las pruebas de comportamiento, y la otra para lle…

Representative Results

Los siguientes resultados se basan en datos no publicados de nuestro laboratorio. En este experimento, los ratones hembra adulta ICR fueron probados después de 3 semanas de tratamiento con el inhibidor de la recaptación de serotonina (ISRS) escitalopram o novedoso tratamiento antidepresivo y ansiolítico hierbas (NHT) (para información adicional sobre el tratamiento a base de hierbas, véase 12 , 27,28). Utilizó un modelo lineal reveló que el tratamiento redujo la conducta depresiva como en la FST [F (2,…

Discussion

La FST se utiliza para monitorear el comportamiento de tipo depresivo y se basa en la suposición de que la inmovilidad refleja una medida de la desesperación conductual 3. Las principales ventajas de este procedimiento reside en su relativamente fácil operación y resultados rápidos. Además, su sensibilidad a una amplia gama de fármacos antidepresivos que hace que sea una prueba de detección adecuado es una de las características más importantes que conducen a su alta validez predictiva 29.</sup…

Disclosures

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 738/11), by the National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel (NIPI-7-2011-12), and by the Open University Foundation

Materials

Name of Material/ Equipment Company Catalog Number Comments/Description
Computer Dell intel(r) core(tm) i3-2120 cpu @ 3.30ghz, 4GB ram
Camera VIDO AU-CB422 B/W CCD CAMERA 
http://www.vido-europe.com/products_detail.asp?id=33&pcategory=2
Coding software Biobserve FST Analysis
http://www.biobserve.com/products/fst/index.html
Heating lamp Ikea AA-19025-3 ESPRESSIVIO 400.504.46 - 20W G4 Bulb 
http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/customer_service/assembly/E/E00050467.pdf
Heating pillow Sachs EF-188B 38*38cm Heating pillow
http://www.sachs.co.il/eng/lego_tree.php?instance_id=21&actions=show&id=
604

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Cite This Article
Yankelevitch-Yahav, R., Franko, M., Huly, A., Doron, R. The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior. J. Vis. Exp. (97), e52587, doi:10.3791/52587 (2015).

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