Study on Depression-like Behavior Induced by Tail Suspension Combined with Isolation in Rats

Zhang Yongliang; Chen Hailong; Wang Tingmei; Wang Yanli; Ji Guohua; Lü Ke; Li Yinghui; Qu Lina

doi:10.16289/j.cnki.1002-0837.2017.06.003

Abstract：Objective To investigate the depression-like behavior induced by tail suspension combined with isolation in rats.Methods Twenty-four male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:control (Con),tail suspension (TS) and tail suspension combined with isolation (TS + Ⅰ).Four typical methods including food intake and bodyweight variation test,open field test,novelty exploration test and forced swimming test were deployed to assess emotional activity after 2-week simulation.Results The body weight and food intake of TS and TS + Ⅰ group were significantly reduced,and the TS + Ⅰ group was the lowest group.In the open field test,the locomotor activity of TS and TS + Ⅰ group were lower than those of Con group,and the locomotor activity of TS + Ⅰ group was the least.In the novelty exploration test,the latency of TS and TS + Ⅰ group were longer than those of control group,meanwhile,the rats spent less time on the novelty.Among the three groups,the performance of TS + Ⅰ group was the worst.In the forced swimming test,the climbing behavior in TS and TS + Ⅰ group was decreased significantly,the immobility time of TS + Ⅰ group was longer than those of TS and Con group.Conclusion Compared with tail suspension,tail suspension combined with isolation can lead more serious depression-like behavior in rats.These results could provide an appropriate animal model for the study on pathogenesis of depression and countermeasure drug development under space circumstances.