title: A behavioural test battery to investigate tic-like symptoms, stereotypies, attentional capabilities, and spontaneous locomotion in different mouse strains.
abstract: The preclinical study of human disorders associated with comorbidities and for which the aetiology is still unclear may substantially benefit from multi-strain studies conducted in mice. The latter can help isolating experimental populations (strains) exhibiting distinct facets in the parameters isomorphic to the symptoms of a given disorder. Through a reverse-translation approach, multi-strain studies can inform both natural predisposing factors and environmental modulators. Thus, mouse strains selected for a particular trait may be leveraged to generate hypothesis-driven studies aimed at clarifying the potential role played by the environment in modulating the exhibition of the symptoms of interest. Tourette's syndrome (TS) constitutes a paradigmatic example whereby: it is characterized by a core symptom (tics) often associated with comorbidities (attention-deficit-hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms); it has a clear genetic origin though specific genes are, as yet, unidentified; its course (exacerbations and remissions) is under the influence of environmental factors. Based on these considerations, we tested four mouse strains (ABH, C57, CD1, and SJL) - varying along a plethora of behavioural, neurochemical, and immunological parameters - on a test battery tailored to address the following domains: tics (through the i.p. administration of the selective 5-HT2 receptor agonist DOI, 5mg/kg); locomotion (spontaneous locomotion in the home-cage); perseverative responding in an attentional set shifting task; and behavioural stereotypies in response to a single amphetamine (10mg/kg, i.p.) injection. Present data demonstrate that while ABH and SJL mice respectively exhibit selective increments in amphetamine-induced sniffing behaviour and DOI-induced tic-like behaviours, C57 and CD1 mice show a distinct phenotype, compared to other strains, in several parameters.
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Proietti Onori
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ceci
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Laviola
authors.affiliation: Section of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: simone.macri@iss.it.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macrì
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000662:Amphetamines / Q000009:adverse effects; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000502:physiology; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D013045:Species Specificity; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D020323:Tics / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005879:Tourette Syndrome
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D000661:Amphetamine; C015952:4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenylisopropylamine
keywords: Amphetamine; Animal model; DOI; Perseverative responding; Stereotypies; Tourette's syndrome