title: IL-4 Knock Out Mice Display Anxiety-Like Behavior.
abstract: Inflammation is a recognized antecedent and coincident factor when examining the biology of anxiety. Little is known, however, about how reductions in endogenous anti-inflammatory mediators impact anxiety. Therefore, mood- cognition- and anxiety-associated/like behaviors were examined in IL-4 knock out (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. In comparison to WT mice, IL-4 KO mice demonstrated decreased burrowing and increased social exploration. No differences were seen in forced swim or saccharine preference testing. IL-4 KO mice had similar performance to WT mice in the Morris water maze and during object location and novel object recognition. In the elevated zero-maze, IL-4 KO mice, in comparison to WT mice, demonstrated anxiety-like behavior. Anxiety-like behavior in IL-4 KO mice was not observed, however, during open-field testing. Taken together, these data indicate that IL-4 KO mice display state, but not trait, anxiety suggesting that reductions in endogenous anti-inflammatory bioactives can engender subtypes of anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Morgan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Joesting
authors.forename: Neil A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Blevins
authors.forename: Marcus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gainey
authors.forename: Albert E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Towers
authors.forename: Leslie K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: McNeil
authors.forename: Gregory G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Freund
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D007249:Inflammation; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012919:Social Behavior; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4