title: Dexmedetomidine alleviates anxiety-like behaviors and cognitive impairments in a rat model of post-traumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disease that has substantial health implications, including high rates of health morbidity and mortality, as well as increased health-related costs. Although many pharmacological agents have proven the effects on the development of PTSD, current pharmacotherapies typically only produce partial improvement of PTSD symptoms. Dexmedetomidine is a selective, short-acting α2-adrenoceptor agonist, which has anxiolytic, sedative, and analgesic effects. We therefore hypothesized that dexmedetomidine possesses the ability to prevent the development of PTSD and alleviate its symptoms. By using the rat model of PTSD induced by five electric foot shocks followed by three weekly exposures to situational reminders, we showed that the stressed rats displayed pronounced anxiety-like behaviors and cognitive impairments compared to the controls. Notably, repeated administration of 20μg/kg dexmedetomidine showed impaired fear conditioning memory, decreased anxiety-like behaviors, and improved spatial cognitive impairments compared to the vehicle-treated stressed rats. These data suggest that dexmedetomidine may exert preventive and protective effects against anxiety-like behaviors and cognitive impairments in the rats with PTSD after repeated administration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Mu-Huo
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Qiang
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Xue
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States; Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Zhong-Cong
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: zywang1970@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhong-Yun
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, China; Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesia and Analgesia Application Technology, Xuzhou, China. Electronic address: yjyangjj@126.com.
authors.forename: Jian-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D020927:Dexmedetomidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects; D046352:Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D058647:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D020927:Dexmedetomidine
keywords: Anxiety-like behavior; Cognition; Dexmedetomidine; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)