Gender differences in genetic mouse models evaluated for depressive-like and antidepressant behavior.

Journal Title: Pharmacological Reports - Year 2013, Vol 65, Issue 6

Abstract

Depression is a mental disease that affects complex cognitive and emotional functions. It is believed that depression is twice as prevalent in women as in men. This phenomenon may influence the response to various antidepressant therapies, and these differences are still underestimated in clinical treatment. Nevertheless, most of the current findings are based on studies on male animal models, and relatively few of these studies take possible gender differences into consideration. Advancements in genetic engineering over the last two decades have introduced many transgenic lines that have been screened to study the pathomechanisms of depression. In this mini-review, we provide a compendious list of genetically altered mice that underwent tests for depressive-like or antidepressant behavior and determine if and how the gender factor was analyzed in their evaluation. Furthermore, we compile the gender differences in response to antidepressant treatment. On the basis of these analyses, we conclude that in many cases, gender variability is neglected or not taken into consideration in the presented results. We note the necessity of discussing this issue in the phenotypic characterization of transgenic mice, which seems to be particularly important while modeling mental diseases.

Authors and Affiliations

Grzegorz Kreiner, Piotr Chmielarz, Adam Roman, Irena Nalepa

Keywords

Related Articles

Effect of combined treatment with mirtazapine and risperidone on the MK-801-induced changes in the object recognition test in mice.

Background: Several clinical reports have suggested that the mirtazapine-induced augmentation of risperidone activity may effectively improve treatment of the negative and certain cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Met...

Humanins, the neuroprotective and cytoprotective peptides with antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Humanin (HN) is a newly discovered 24-amino acid peptide, which may suppress neuronal cell death. HN cDNA includes an open reading frame (HN-ORF) of 75 bases located 950 bases downstream of the 5' end of the HN cDNA. It...

Buspirone improves the anti-cataleptic effect of levodopa in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

In Parkinson's disease (PD), prolonged exposure to L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) results in motor fluctuations, such as the on-off phenomenon, and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Previously, we found that activation o...

Kynurenic acid in human saliva--does it influence oral microflora?

Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is an endogenous antagonist of alpha7 nicotinic receptors and all ionotropic glutamate receptors. Its neuroprotective activity has been suggested. In this study, the presence of KYNAin human saliva...

Effects of chronic flunitrazepam treatment schedule on therapy-induced sedation and motor impairment in mice.

Background: The aim of the present study was to examine whether different treatment schedules could be associated with tolerance development to the ataxic and sedative effects of flunitrazepam in mice. Methods: Effects o...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP131417
  • DOI -
  • Views 83
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Grzegorz Kreiner, Piotr Chmielarz, Adam Roman, Irena Nalepa (2013). Gender differences in genetic mouse models evaluated for depressive-like and antidepressant behavior.. Pharmacological Reports, 65(6), 1580-1590. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-131417