The influence of long-term housing in overcrowding on the social behavior of rats and the expression of genes associated with neuroinflammation

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Abstract

The effect of long-term housing in overcrowding on the social behavior of adult male Wistar rats was studied. From 30 to 180 postnatal day (PND) the rats lived in standard conditions for 5 individuals (360 cm2 per rat, group of STD), or in crowded conditions for 15 individuals in cages (120 cm2 per rat, group of CROW). Starting from 100 PND, the behavior of rats was studied in social preference test, social dominance tube test and in the resident intruder test for aggressive behavior. After decapitation of rats by 180 PND, brain samples from the amygdala, dorsal hippocampus, ventromedial hypothalamus and medial prefrontal cortex were taken for subsequent analysis of the expression of IL-1β, TNF, TGF-β1, IL-6 mRNA genes using a real-time polymerase chain reaction. Compared with the STD group, rats of CROW group had a shorter interaction time with a social object in the social preference test. Males of the CROW group had more wins in the tube test compared to the STD group, as well as more attacks in the resident intruder test. The expression of IL-1β in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex was significantly increased in the rats of the CROW group, as well as the expression of TGF-β1 in the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex was increased. The social stress of overcrowding led to an increase in social dominance, aggressiveness and decreased sociability. Changes in social behavior in the CROW rats were accompanied by an increase in the expression of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β and the anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β1 in a number of brain structures, which can be considered, respectively, as a manifestation of neuroinflammation and compensatory processes.

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About the authors

I. V. Pavlova

Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: pavlovfml@mail.ru
Russian Federation, 117485 Moscow

N. D. Broshevitskaya

Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: pavlovfml@mail.ru
Russian Federation, 117485 Moscow

A. A. Potekhina

Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: pavlovfml@mail.ru
Russian Federation, 117485 Moscow

A. M. Shvadchenko

Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: pavlovfml@mail.ru
Russian Federation, 117485 Moscow

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2. Fig. 1. The effect of being kept in conditions of increased crowding on various indicators of rat behavior in the social preference test. STANDARD – A group of rats kept in standard conditions; BORING – a group of rats living in conditions of increased crowding; T – time; * p < 0.05 – statistically significant differences between the groups of STANDARD and BORING (One-Way ANOVA)

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3. Fig. 2. The effect of being kept in conditions of increased crowding on the behavior of rats in the social dominance test in the tube. * p < 0.05 – Statistically significant differences between the STANDARD and BORING groups (in panel (a) – 2.2 × 2 tables; in panel (b) – Mann-Whitney U–test)

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4. Rhys. 3. Influence of conditions in terms of more vexation of different types of behavior indicators (a-D) and distribution of attacks on the KRS.in time (E and E) in the deck "resident–intruder" (%). T is Time; * p < 0.05 is statistically significant differences between the standard and boring groups; # 0.05 < p < 0.1 is a trend (in panels a and c, the Mann–Whitney U-test; in panels B and d– One-Way ANOVA; in panels e and E,χ2, 2 × 2 tables)

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5. 4. mRNA expression of the genes of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF (a), IL-1b(c), IL-6 (d) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β1 (b) in various brain structures in rats of the BORING and STANDARD group.Horizontally – brain structures (GPT – ventromedial hypothalamus; GPC – dorsal hippocampus; amygdala; PFC – dorsomedial prefrontal cortex); vertically – relative amount of mRNA. * p < 0.05 – Differences between the STANDARD and BORING groups (Mann-Whitney U–test); # 0.05 ≤ p < 0.1 – trend

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