A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats

Summary

This protocol describes a new model by which healthy rats could contract depression over a given time periodthrough contagion by exposure to chronic unpredictable stressed (CUS) rats.

Abstract

Contagious depression is a phenomenon that is yet to be fully recognized and this stems from insufficient material on the subject. At the moment, there is no existing format for studying the mechanism of action, prevention, containment, and treatment of contagious depression. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to establish the first animal model of contagious depression.

Healthy rats can contract depressive behaviors if exposed to depressed rats. Depression is induced in rats by subjecting them to several manipulations of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) over 5 weeks, as described in the protocol. A successful sucrose preference test confirmed the development of depression in the rats. The CUS-exposed rats were then caged with naïve rats from the contagion group (1 naïve rat/2 depressed rats in a cage) for an additional 5 weeks. 30 social groups were created from the combination of CUS-exposed rats and naïve rats.

This proposed depression-contagion protocol in animals consists mainly of cohabiting CUS-exposed and healthy rats for 5 weeks. To ensure that this method works, a series of tests are carried out - first, the sucrose preference test upon inducing depression to rats, then, the sucrose preference test, alongside the open field and forced-swim tests at the end of the cohabitation period. Throughout the experiment, rats are given tags and are always returned to their cages after each test.

A few limitations to this method are the weak differences recorded between the experimental and control groups in the sucrose preference test and the irreversible traumatic outcome of the forced swim test. These may be worth considering for suitability before any future application of the protocol. Nonetheless, following the experiment, naïve rats developed contagion depression after 5 weeks of sharing the same cage with the CUS-exposed rats.

Introduction

Tests carried out in recent times have suggested that psychiatric illnesses could be easily spread to healthy individuals via contagion¹. In this case, it is termed social contagion and is spread through affect, attitude, or behavior. This only requires one depressed individual to interact with one or more healthy individuals, thereby facilitating the sharing of emotion. Social relationships are hence a very important component of mood, as they define the transfer of emotions from one individual to the other, by way of mimicry and "emotional contagion". Time frames for contagion to take effect vary², inevitably d....

Protocol

The following procedure was conducted according to the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki and Tokyo and the Guidelines for the Use of Experimental Animals of the European Community. The experiments were also approved by the Animal Care Committee at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

1. Preparing Rats for the Experimental Procedure

Note: For the experimental procedure, select male Sprague-Dawley rats with no overt pathology, each weighing between 300 and 350 g.

1. House three rats per cage, with chow and water available ad libitum, and allow for at least two weeks of adaptation, ....

Results

The sucrose preference test: After exposing rats to 5 weeks of CUS for induction of depression, and then subsequently exposing healthy rats to the CUS-exposed rats for a further 5 weeks, both sets of rats displayed depressive-like behaviorsat the end of the experiment (Figure 2). The evidence of this behavior was seen in the reduced preference for sucrose by the depressed rats, after CUS (65 ± 2.8%, p < 0.001, Figure 2), when compared to the .......

Discussion

According to the results obtained with the application of this protocol, healthy rats, like humans, were negatively affected by depressed rats when housed together over an extended period. The contagiously depressed rats were affected by their already depressed counterparts after five weeks of cohabitation, establishing a distinct animal depression-contagion model for the first time. An earlier study with pigs had also suggested shared emotional statutes between depressed and healthy pigs²⁵.

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Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Rat Cages	Techniplast	2000P	Conventional housing for rodents. Was used for housing rats throughout the experiment
Water	-	-	Common tap water used througout the experiment at different stages
Purina Chow	Purina	5001	Rodent laboratory chow given to rats, mice and hamster is a life-cycle nutrition that has been used in biomedical researc for over 5 decades. Provided to rats ad libitum in this experiment
Bottles	Techniplast	ACBT0262SU	150 ml bottles filled with 100 ml of water and 100 ml 1%(w/v) sucrose solution
Black lusterless perspex box	-	-	(120 cm × 60 cm × 60 cm), divided into a 25% central zone and the surrounding border zone
Video Camera	Canon	-	Digital video camera for high definition recording of rat behavior under open field test
Alcohol	Pharmacy	-	99% pharmaceutical alcohol diluted to 5% and used for lceaning the open field test box before the introduction of each rat
Glass cylinder	-	-	100 cm tall, 40 cm in diameter, and 40 cm deep cylinder used for carrying out the forced swim test
Paper towels	Pharmacy	-	Dry towels used for keeping rats dry after immersing them in water
Bold markers	-	-	Common bold markers used for labeling rats