title: Effects of dysthyroidism in plus maze and social interaction tests.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine the influence of thyroid hormones on the anxiety of male Wistar rats. Dysthyroidism was induced by adding 20 mg of methimazole (100 ml) to their drinking water or by adding 0.3 mg of L-thyroxine (100 ml) to their drinking water from the ninth day of gestation. After weaning, the drugs were administered to young rats until the end of the experiment. Anxious behavior was measured using the elevated plus maze and social interaction tests when the animals were 85 days old. Chronic methimazole administration produced a significant anxiolytic pattern in both tests. In the plus maze test, the methimazole-treated animals entered and remained more time in the open arms than the control animals. In the social interaction test, they spent more time in bodily contact, and did this more frequently than those in the control group did. Results from this experiment suggest that chronic thyroid deficiency produces an anxiolytic-like effect in both tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systematic and Social Pedagogy, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain. fina.sala@uab.es
authors.forename: Josefina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sala-Roca
authors.forename: Maria Assumpció
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martí-Carbonell
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garau
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Darbra
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008713:Methimazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D008713:Methimazole; D013974:Thyroxine