Noradrenaline microinjected into the dorsal periaqueductal gray matter causes anxiolytic-like effects in rats tested in the elevated T-maze

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• 作者：Viviane Batista Estrada^a ; Natá ; lia Kimie Matsubara^a ; Marcus Vinicius Gomes^b ; Fernando Morgan Aguiar Corrê ; a^c ; Gislaine Garcia Pelosi^a ; ^{pelosigg@gmail.com" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：Anxiety ; Noradrenaline ; Periaqueductal gray matter ; Elevated T-maze
• 刊名：Life Sciences
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：1 May 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：152
• 期：Complete
• 页码：94-98
• 全文大小：687 K

文摘

The dorsal periaqueductal gray matter (dPAG) is involved in the integration of behavioral and cardiovascular responses caused by fear and anxiety situations. Some studies suggest an involvement of noradrenergic neurotransmission in the dPAG in anxiety modulation, however, there is no evidence about its role in panic attacks. The goal of this work was to study the effect of NA microinjection in dPAG in rats submitted to the elevated T-maze (ETM).

Materials and methods

Male Wistar had a cannula implanted in the PAG where it was injected NA in the doses of 1, 3, 15, 45 nmol/50 nl or artificial cerebrospinal fluid previous the ETM test.

Key findings.

NA intra-dPAG decreased inhibitory avoidance behavior in the ETM without changing escape, indicating only an anxiolytic-like effect. Furthermore, the microinjection of NA did not change the general exploratory activity of the animals submitted to the open field test, suggesting that the anxiolytic-like effect is not due to an increase in exploratory activity.

Significance

The results indicate an involvement of noradrenergic neurotransmission in the dPAG in defensive reactions associated with generalized anxiety, but not as main mechanisms for the panic, in rats submitted to the elevated T-maze providing support for other research aimed at improving the treatment of generalized anxiety.