title: Rodent models of obsessive compulsive disorder: Evaluating validity to interpret emerging neurobiology.
abstract: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with unknown molecular underpinnings. Identification of genetic and non-genetic risk factors has largely been elusive, primarily because of a lack of power. In contrast, neuroimaging has consistently implicated the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits in OCD. Pharmacological treatment studies also show specificity, with consistent response of OCD symptoms to chronic treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors; although most patients are left with residual impairment. In theory, animal models could provide a bridge from the neuroimaging and pharmacology data to an understanding of pathophysiology at the cellular and molecular level. Several mouse models have been proposed using genetic, immunological, pharmacological, and optogenetic tools. These experimental model systems allow testing of hypotheses about the origins of compulsive behavior. Several models have generated behavior that appears compulsive-like, particularly excessive grooming, and some have demonstrated response to chronic serotonin reuptake inhibitors, establishing both face validity and predictive validity. Construct validity is more difficult to establish in the context of a limited understanding of OCD risk factors. Our current models may help us to dissect the circuits and molecular pathways that can elicit OCD-relevant behavior in rodents. We can hope that this growing understanding, coupled with developing technology, will prepare us when robust OCD risk factors are better understood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA. Electronic address: isaac.zike@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zike
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: tim.xu@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cornell University Medical College, White Plains, NY 10605, USA. Electronic address: nah2026@med.cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cornell University Medical College, White Plains, NY 10605, USA; Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology and Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: veenstr@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veenstra-VanderWeele
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012377:Rodentia
keywords: autism; autoimmune; basal ganglia; optogenetic; repetitive behavior; striatum