This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Depression is a public health issue, especially for women. Traditionally, animal-based research has relied on the introduction of stressors for inducing the behavioral and neural changes indicative of depression. However, most such models fail to apply stressors that are socially relevant and sex-specific. The objective of the project is to validate a model of social stress that is effective in inducing depression in female rats, and to use this model to test treatment and prevention strategies. We now have clear evidence that housing ovariectomized rats in a visible burrow system (VBS), containing intact males, results in behavioral and neural indicators of depression. We are further able to show that this effect is not due simply to crowding, since the results were not found in all-females group housing. Treatment with fluoxetine, an antidepressant, attenuated the behavioral, but not the neuronal, affects. These results are now being used to examine more thoroughly the specific components of the housing that lead to depression, and to examine the permanency of the effects. Further studies will concentrate on preventative measures including the use of limited access to regular exercise, limited respite from the housing conditions, and pharmacological interventions.
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