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Attenuation of Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress induced deficits in rats by Apomorphine
Muhammad Farhan1, Darakshan Jabeen Haleem1
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan; ICCBS, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.
Objective:
To investigate the effects of repeated doses of apomorphine in rats exposed to unpredictable chronic mild stress.
Methods:
The experimental case-control study was conducted in March 2011 at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Karachi, and comprised albino-wistar rats. The experimental animals were exposed to a schedule of unpredictable chronic mild stress, while control animals were left in the cages. Animals of stressed and unstressed group were administrated with apomorphine at dose of 1.0 mg/kg repeatedly. Daily food intake and activity in familiar environment were monitored to observe the anorexic effects and behavioural sensitisation after apomorphine administration.
Results:
The 24 rats in the study were divided into two groups. Apomorphine-induced anorexia was seen more in stressed animals (p<0.05). Apomorphine increased motor activity monitored in a familiar environment and apomorphine-induced behavioural sensitisation was more potentiated in animals previously exposed to unpredictable chronic mild stress as they showed more cage crosses after 2nd and 3rd (p<0.05) and 4th to 6th (p<0.01) injections compared to the stressed rats with saline. These animals also exhibited hyperactive response in open field apparatus after 1st and 6th injection (p<0.01) compared to the saline-injected stressed rats.
Conclusions:
Repeated administration of apomorphine at 1.0 mg/kg dose alleviated the behavioural deficits of unpredictable chronic mild stress.
