Aripiprazole prevents stress-induced anxiety and social impairment, but impairs antipredatory behavior in zebrafish

Publication date: Available online 29 December 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Heloísa Helena de Alcantara Barcellos, Aline Pompermaier, Suelen Mendonça Soares, Victoria Costa Maffi, Marina Fernandes, Gessi Koakoski, Karina Kirsten, Bernardo Baldisserotto, Leonardo José Gil BarcellosAbstractEnvironmental pollution caused by antipsychotic residues is a relevant ecological problem. Studies revealed that residues of these drugs are present in a wide range of different ecosystems and can have adverse effects on non-target organisms even in low environmental concentrations. Among these antipsychotic drugs, aripiprazole (APPZ) is a second-generation atypical antipsychotic that is a partial agonist of dopaminergic and serotoninergic receptors. APPZ is used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety or panic disorders. Thus, in this study we posed the following question: “What will be the behavioral effects of waterborne APPZ on fish?” To answer this question, we exposed adult zebrafish to different APPZ concentrations (0.556, 5.56, and 556 ng/L) for 15 min and evaluated their exploratory, anxiety-like, social, and anti-predatory behaviors. Our results showed that, despite the apparent beneficial reversal of stress-induced social impairment and anxiety-like behavior, APPZ exposure impaired the anti-predatory reaction of adult zebrafish. Taken altogether, our results show that APPZ-exposed zebraf...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research