Differential Adenosine Signaling and Effects of Acute Caffeine Exposure on Alternative Stress Coping Styles in...

Changes within neurotransmitter systems are associated with variation in anxiety-related behavior. The adenosine signaling pathway has been linked to anxiety, and caffeine has been utilized as a modulator. However, studies have not considered the impact of an individual's stress coping style (e.g., proactive, reactive) and the corresponding differences in neuromolecular signaling that can influence behavioral responses.

To assess the role of adenosine signaling, we acutely treated reactive and proactive zebrafish with 50 mg/L caffeine and evaluated anxiety-like behavior using a novel tank diving test. We then quantified whole-brain gene expression of genes representing distinct parts of the adenosine signaling pathway: adenosine receptors A1B, A2Aa, A2Ab, and A2B (adora1b, adora2aa, adora2ab, and adora2b, respectively) and enzymes adenosine deaminase (ada) and ecto-5'-nucleotidase (nt5e).

Individuals with the reactive coping style had higher anxiety-related behavior (lower composite stress behavior score, more time spent frozen, less transitions to the top half, swam less distance, and swam slower) than the proactive coping style, and all females had higher anxiety-related behavior (lower composite stress behavior score, more time spent frozen, swam less distance, and swam slower) than males. Surprisingly, caffeine treatment decreased anxiety-related behavior (swam a higher distance and swam faster) compared to controls. Caffeine reduced anxiety behavior (higher composite stress behavior score, swam a higher distance, and swam faster) in reactive males only. We also observed significant differential gene expression within the adenosine signaling pathway between the reactive and proactive strains, where reactive zebrafish expressed higher levels of adenosine receptors A1B, A2Ab, A2B, and ada, and lower levels of adenosine receptor A2Aa than proactive zebrafish.

These findings indicate that variation in adenosine signaling between the stress coping styles and sexes may be contributing to differences in anxiety-related behavior.