title: Hyperactivity and lack of social discrimination in the adolescent Fmr1 knockout mouse.
abstract: The aims of this study were to investigate behaviour relevant to human autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the fragile X syndrome in adolescent Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice and to evaluate the tissue levels of striatal monoamines. Fmr1 KO mice were evaluated in the open field, marble burying and three-chamber test for the presence of hyperactivity, anxiety, repetitive behaviour, sociability and observation of social novelty compared with wild-type (WT) mice. The Fmr1 KO mice expressed anxiety and hyperactivity in the open field compared with WT mice. This increased level of hyperactivity was confirmed in the three-chamber test. Fmr1 KO mice spent more time with stranger mice compared with the WT. However, after a correction for hyperactivity, their apparent increase in sociability became identical to that of the WT. Furthermore, the Fmr1 KO mice could not differentiate between a familiar or a novel mouse. Monoamines were measured by HPLC: Fmr1 KO mice showed an increase in the striatal dopamine level. We conclude that the fragile X syndrome model seems to be useful for understanding certain aspects of ASD and may have translational interest for studies of social behaviour when hyperactivity coexists in ASD patients.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience/MINDLab bDepartment of Biomedicine, Aarhus University cDepartment of Nuclear Medicine & PET centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C dLaboratory of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Emilie M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Freja
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bertelsen
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weikop
authors.forename: Maria M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Skovborg
authors.forename: Tue
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Banke
authors.forename: Kim R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Drasbek
authors.forename: Jørgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scheel-Krüger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005600:Fragile X Syndrome / Q000235:genetics; D006948:Hyperkinesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009043:Motor Activity; D012919:Social Behavior; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D051860:Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1; C497684:Fmr1 protein, mouse