Sex differences in serotonergic control of rat social behaviour

There is increasing evidence that enhancement of the salience of social stimuli can have a beneficial effect in managing many psychiatric conditions. There are, however, clear sex-related differences in social behaviour, including the neural mechanisms responsible for different aspects of social functions.

We explored the role of the serotonergic system on rat social behaviour under baseline and under stressful conditions in female and male rats.

Rats were treated with the selective serotonin transporter (SERT) inhibitor escitalopram postnatally; a procedure known to cause a long-lasting reduction of serotonergic activity. In adulthood, social behaviour was tested in a social interaction test and in ultrasonic vocalisation (USVs) recording sessions before and after yohimbine-induced stress-like state.

Our data demonstrated that both female and, to a lesser extent, male escitalopram treated rats, exposed to a novel social situation, had fewer social exploration events and emitted fewer frequency-modulated calls with trills, trills and step calls, suggesting that an impaired function of the serotonergic system reduced the positive valence of social interaction. In a stress-like state, 50 kHz flat calls were increased only in female rats, indicating an increased seeking of social contact. However, the number of flat calls in escitalopram treated female rats was significantly lower compared with control rats.

These data suggest that females may respond differently to serotonergic pharmacotherapy with respect to enhancement of beneficial effects of social support, especially in stress-related situations.