Glycine transporter type 1 (GlyT1) inhibition improves conspecific-provoked immobility in Balb/c mice: Analysis of corticosterone response and glucocorticoid gene expression in cortex and hippocampus

Publication date: Available online 18 January 2020Source: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryAuthor(s): Jessica A. Burket, Jerrah C. Pickle, Allison M. Rusk, Bronson A. Haynes, Julia A. Sharp, Stephen I. DeutschAbstractStress reactivity and glucocorticoid signaling alterations are reported in mouse models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Balb/c mice display decreased locomotor activity in the presence of stimulus mice and spend less time exploring enclosed stimulus mice; this mouse strain has been validated as an ASD model. VU0410120, a glycine type 1 transporter (GlyT1) inhibitor, improved sociability in Balb/c mice, consistent with data that NMDA Receptor (NMDAR) activation regulates sociability, and the endogenous tone of NMDAR-mediated neurotransmission is altered in this strain. Effects of a prosocial dose of VU0410120 on conspecific-provoked immobility, and relationships between conspecific-provoked immobility and corticosterone response were explored. VU0410120-treated Balb/c mice showed reduced immobility in the presence of conspecifics and increased the conspecific-provoked corticosterone response. However, the intensity of conspecific-provoked immobility in VU0410120-treated Balb/c mice did not differ as a function of corticosterone response. Expression profiles of 88 glucocorticoid signaling associated genes within frontal cortex and hippocampus were examined. Balb/c mice resistant to prosocial effects of VU0410120 had increased mRNA ex...
Source: Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research