An animal model of premenstrual dysphoric disorder sensitive to antidepressants

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is characterized by the recurrence of a cluster of physical and negative mood symptoms, especially irritability, appearing when estrogen and progesterone levels decrease during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. This unit describes a new animal model of PMDD that shows differentiation between female rats expressing and not expressing ovarian cycle-dependent irritability measured by the behavior of burying harmless objects. Burying behavior is enhanced in a subgroup of female rats at metestrus and decreased at the proestrus phase of the estrous cycle. Increased marble burying at metestrus does not habituate and can be reversed by acute treatment with several antidepressants, which mimic the pharmacology of PMDD in humans. This model may be used to study the neuroendocrine mechanisms triggering premenstrual irritability, and the mode of action of antidepressants used for the treatment of PMDD.