title: Depressive-like behaviors in a rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.
abstract: The vascular depression hypothesis suggests that there is an association between cerebrovascular pathophysiology and depression in the elderly. We investigated depressive-like behaviors and perturbations in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in a rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. We modeled chronic cerebral hypoperfusion by permanent occlusion of the bilateral common carotid arteries (BCCAo) in Wistar rats. Sucrose preference, forced swim, and social interaction tests were performed to measure depressive-like behaviors. The plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone, and the hippocampal expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) were assessed. Sucrose preference (P = 0.045) and social withdrawal (P = 0.038) were significantly enhanced in BCCAo rats. Increased plasma levels of corticosterone (P = 0.034) and impaired cytosolic-to-nuclear translocation of the GR protein were observed in the hippocampus (P = 0.038) of BCCAo rats. Our experimental results support the clinical hypothesis that vascular depression can be induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Increased HPA axis activity and perturbation of the GR signaling pathway in the hippocampus may be associated with depressive-like behaviors in rats with chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Center for Geriatric Neuroscience Research, Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Research Institute of Medical Science, School of Medicine, Konkuk University, 120-1 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-729, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Rim
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Boryoung
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Saswati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Ju-Ha
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Dong Bin
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Jung-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Dong-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kyoung Ja
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Chan Young
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jongmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seol-Heui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hahn Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone