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Authors & Affiliations
Jana Osacka, Lila Dziewiczova, Lubica Horvathova, Andrej Tillinger
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after exposure to severe traumatic event. PTSD is associated with changes in behavior and reduced neurogenesis. Available data suggests that antipsychotics or enriched environment may positively affect behavioral outcomes and increase neurogenesis in PTSD patients. Our aim was to determine whether aripiprazole, enriched environment or their combination in the PTSD animal model will positively affect behavioral outcomes and hippocampal neurogenesis. We used the single prolonged stress paradigm to induce PTSD related symptoms in animals. Animals were exposed to 28-day aripiprazole (ARI) treatment, enriched environment (EE) or their combination. Afterwards they underwent elevated plus maze (EPM), open field (OF), and novel object recognition tests and one day later decapitated or transcardially perfused. In the plasma we measured corticosterone (CORT) levels. PTSD animals had lower CORT levels compared to the PTSD ones exposed to EE. They also spent moderately less time and travelled shorter distance in the open arms of the EMP but combination of ARI and EE treatment reversed anxiolytic effect. In the OF animals exposed to EE travelled longer distance and were less immobile than the PTSD ones. We did not observe significant effect of any treatment in the NOR test. Our preliminary data showed increased and slightly increased levels of the neurogenic markers doublecortin and SOX-2 mRNA levels in the hippocampus of PTSD animals. On the basis of the obtained data EE seems to be more effective in suppressing PTSD induced behavioral outcomes than ARI.Grant support: VEGA grants 2/0010/22 and 2/0050/23