Altered anxiety and social behaviors in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Publication date: Available online 14 February 2020Source: Journal of Clinical NeuroscienceAuthor(s): Chao-Wen Luo, Xiao-Yan Deng, Jin-Ling Cheng, Dan-Xian Xiao, Chu-Yu Zhang, Jia-Xin Feng, Sheng-Qiang Chen, Nan HuAbstractFragile X syndrome (FXS) is a common mental retardation syndrome. Anxiety and abnormal social behaviors are prominent features of FXS in humans. To better understand the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on these behaviors, we analyzed anxiety-related and social behaviors in Fmr1 knockout mice treated by HBOT. In the open field test, HBOT group mice preferred the periphery to central areas and tended to run or walk along the wall. The results suggested that thigmotaxis was significantly increased in the HBOT group compared with the control group. In the elevated plus maze test, the percentage of distance traveled was significantly increased in the open arm and significantly decreased in the closed arm for HBOT group mice compared with control group mice. These results suggested that HBOT group mice displayed enhanced motor activity in the open arm and exhibited fewer anxiety-related behaviors. In the three-chambered social approach test, the HBOT group mice made more approaches to the wire cup containing an acquaintance mouse than control group mice in the sociability test and made more approaches to the wire cup containing a stranger mouse than control group mice in the social novelty preference test. The results suggested that HBOT group mice s...
Source: Journal of Clinical Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research