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Braida D, Ponzoni L, Dellarole I, Morara S, Sala M. Fluoxetine rescues the depressive-like behaviour induced by reserpine and the altered emotional behaviour induced by nicotine withdrawal in zebrafish: Involvement of tyrosine hydroxylase. J Psychopharmacol 2023; 37:1132-1148. [PMID: 37593958 DOI: 10.1177/02698811231191103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nicotine cessation leads to anxiety and depression. AIMS The suitability of the zebrafish model of anhedonia using reserpine and fluoxetine was evaluated. Fluoxetine was also used to reduce nicotine withdrawal-induced anhedonic state. METHODS Zebrafish were exposed to reserpine (40 mg/l) and then to fluoxetine (0.1 mg/l) for 1 week. Anhedonia was evaluated in the Novel Tank Diving and Compartment Preference tests. Another group was exposed to nicotine (1 mg/l/2 weeks) and then exposed to fluoxetine. Anxiety and anhedonia were evaluated 2-60 days after. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity and microglial morphology (labelled by 4C4 monoclonal antibody) in the parvocellular pretectal nucleus (PPN), dorsal part, and of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the hypothalamus were also analysed. RESULTS Less time in the top and increased latency to the top in reserpine compared to a drug-free group was found. Fluoxetine rescued reserpine-induced the reduced time in the top. Seven and 30 days after nicotine withdrawal more time in the bottom and similar time in the Compartment Preference test, rescued by fluoxetine, were shown. In the PPN, 30-day withdrawal induced an increase in TH immunoreactivity, but fluoxetine induced a further significant increase. No changes in PPN microglia morphology and hypothalamic CGRP were detected. CONCLUSIONS Our findings validate the suitability of the zebrafish model of anhedonia using the reserpine-induced depression-like behaviour and the predictivity using fluoxetine. Fluoxetine rescued nicotine withdrawal-induced anhedonic state, opening the possibility to screen new drugs to alleviate anxiety and depression in smokers during abstinence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Braida
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Luisa Ponzoni
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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Wang B, Chen J, Sheng Z, Lian W, Wu Y, Liu M. Embryonic exposure to fentanyl induces behavioral changes and neurotoxicity in zebrafish larvae. PeerJ 2022; 10:e14524. [PMID: 36540796 PMCID: PMC9760023 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of fentanyl during pregnancy, whether by prescription or illicit use, may result in high blood levels that pose an early risk to fetal development. However, little is known regarding the neurotoxicity that might arise from excessive fentanyl exposure in growing organisms, particularly drug-related withdrawal symptoms. In this study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to fentanyl solutions (0.1, 1, and 5 mg/L) for 5 days post fertilization (dpf), followed by a 5-day recovery period, and then the larvae were evaluated for photomotor response, anxiety behavior, shoaling behavior, aggression, social preference, and sensitization behavior. Fentanyl solutions at 1 and 5 mg/L induced elevated anxiety, decreased social preference and aggressiveness, and behavioral sensitization in zebrafish larvae. The expression of genes revealed that embryonic exposure to fentanyl caused substantial alterations in neural activity (bdnf, c-fos) and neuronal development and plasticity (npas4a, egr1, btg2, ier2a, vgf). These results suggest that fentanyl exposure during embryonic development is neurotoxic, highlighting the importance of zebrafish as an aquatic species in research on the neurobehavioral effects of opioids in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binjie Wang
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jiale Chen
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Zhong Sheng
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Wanting Lian
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yuanzhao Wu
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Meng Liu
- The Department of Criminal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
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Mech AM, Merteroglu M, Sealy IM, Teh MT, White RJ, Havelange W, Brennan CH, Busch-Nentwich EM. Behavioral and Gene Regulatory Responses to Developmental Drug Exposures in Zebrafish. Front Psychiatry 2022; 12:795175. [PMID: 35082702 PMCID: PMC8785235 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.795175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental consequences of prenatal drug exposure have been reported in many human cohorts and animal studies. The long-lasting impact on the offspring-including motor and cognitive impairments, cranial and cardiac anomalies and increased prevalence of ADHD-is a socioeconomic burden worldwide. Identifying the molecular changes leading to developmental consequences could help ameliorate the deficits and limit the impact. In this study, we have used zebrafish, a well-established behavioral and genetic model with conserved drug response and reward pathways, to identify changes in behavior and cellular pathways in response to developmental exposure to amphetamine, nicotine or oxycodone. In the presence of the drug, exposed animals showed altered behavior, consistent with effects seen in mammalian systems, including impaired locomotion and altered habituation to acoustic startle. Differences in responses seen following acute and chronic exposure suggest adaptation to the presence of the drug. Transcriptomic analysis of exposed larvae revealed differential expression of numerous genes and alterations in many pathways, including those related to cell death, immunity and circadian rhythm regulation. Differential expression of circadian rhythm genes did not correlate with behavioral changes in the larvae, however, two of the circadian genes, arntl2 and per2, were also differentially expressed at later stages of development, suggesting a long-lasting impact of developmental exposures on circadian gene expression. The immediate-early genes, egr1, egr4, fosab, and junbb, which are associated with synaptic plasticity, were downregulated by all three drugs and in situ hybridization showed that the expression for all four genes was reduced across all neuroanatomical regions, including brain regions implicated in reward processing, addiction and other psychiatric conditions. We anticipate that these early changes in gene expression in response to drug exposure are likely to contribute to the consequences of prenatal exposure and their discovery might pave the way to therapeutic intervention to ameliorate the long-lasting deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra M. Mech
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Munise Merteroglu
- Department of Medicine, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ian M. Sealy
- Department of Medicine, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Muy-Teck Teh
- Centre for Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, England, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J. White
- Department of Medicine, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - William Havelange
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Caroline H. Brennan
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Elisabeth M. Busch-Nentwich
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Medicine, Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Ponzoni L, Melzi G, Marabini L, Martini A, Petrillo G, Teh MT, Torres-Perez JV, Morara S, Gotti C, Braida D, Brennan CH, Sala M. Conservation of mechanisms regulating emotional-like responses on spontaneous nicotine withdrawal in zebrafish and mammals. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2021; 111:110334. [PMID: 33905756 PMCID: PMC8380689 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nicotine withdrawal syndrome is a major clinical problem. Animal models with sufficient predictive validity to support translation of pre-clinical findings to clinical research are lacking. AIMS We evaluated the behavioural and neurochemical alterations in zebrafish induced by short- and long-term nicotine withdrawal. METHODS Zebrafish were exposed to 1 mg/L nicotine for 2 weeks. Dependence was determined using behavioural analysis following mecamylamine-induced withdrawal, and brain nicotinic receptor binding studies. Separate groups of nicotine-exposed and control fish were assessed for anxiety-like behaviours, anhedonia and memory deficits following 2-60 days spontaneous withdrawal. Gene expression analysis using whole brain samples from nicotine-treated and control fish was performed at 7 and 60 days after the last drug exposure. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity in pretectum was also analysed. RESULTS Mecamylamine-precipitated withdrawal nicotine-exposed fish showed increased anxiety-like behaviour as evidenced by increased freezing and decreased exploration. 3H-Epibatidine labeled heteromeric nicotinic acethylcholine receptors (nAChR) significantly increased after 2 weeks of nicotine exposure while 125I-αBungarotoxin labeled homomeric nAChR remained unchanged. Spontaneous nicotine withdrawal elicited anxiety-like behaviour (increased bottom dwelling), reduced motivation in terms of no preference for the enriched side in a place preference test starting from Day 7 after withdrawal and a progressive decrease of memory attention (lowering discrimination index). Behavioural differences were associated with brain gene expression changes: nicotine withdrawn animals showed decreased expression of chrna 4 and chrna7 after 60 days, and of htr2a from 7 to 60 days.The expression of c-Fos was significantly increased at 7 days. Finally, Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity increased in dorsal parvocellular pretectal nucleus, but not in periventricular nucleus of posterior tuberculum nor in optic tectum, at 60 days after withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show that nicotine withdrawal induced anxiety-like behaviour, cognitive alterations, gene expression changes and increase in pretectal TH expression, similar to those observed in humans and rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gloria Melzi
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Marabini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | | | - Muy-Teck Teh
- Centre for Oral Immunobiology and Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Dentistry, Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, England, UK
| | - Jose V Torres-Perez
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Daniela Braida
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine
| | - Caroline H Brennan
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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