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Sex-specific peripheral and central responses to stress-induced depression and treatment in a mouse model.

ABSTRACT: Major depressive disorder affects ~20% of the world population and is characterized by strong sexual dimorphism with females being two to three times more likely to develop this disorder. Previously, we demonstrated that a combination therapy with dihydrocaffeic acid and malvidin-glucoside to synergistically target peripheral inflammation and stress-induced synaptic maladaptation in the brain was effective in alleviating chronic social defeat stress (CSDS)-induced depression-like phenotype in male mice. Here, we test the combination therapy in a female CSDS model for depression and compared sex-specific responses to stress in the periphery and the central nervous system. Similar to male mice, the combination treatment is also effective in promoting resilience against the CSDS-induced depression-like behavior in female mice. However, there are sex-specific differences in peripheral immune responses and differential gene regulation in the prefrontal cortex to chronic stress and to the treatment. These data indicate that while therapeutic approaches to combat stress-related disorders may be effective in both sexes, the mechanisms underlying these effects differ, emphasizing the need for inclusion of both sexes in preclinical studies using animal models.

SUBMITTER: Deonaraine KK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8561614 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Adversity during development is a reliable predictor of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety which are increasingly recognized to have an immune component. We have previously demonstrated that chronic adolescent stress (CAS) in rats leads to depressive-like behavior in adulthood along with long-lasting changes to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and pro-inflammatory cytokine induction in the hippocampus. However, the mechanisms by which CAS promotes hippocampal inflammation are not yet defined. Here we tested the hypothesis that a history of CAS exaggerates induction of the pro-inflammatory NFκB pathway in the adult rat hippocampus without compromising the peripheral immune response. We also assessed potential sex differences because it is unclear whether females, who are twice as likely to suffer from mood disorders as males, are disproportionally affected by stress-primed inflammation. Male and female adolescent rats underwent a CAS paradigm or received no stress. Six weeks following the last stressor, all rats received a single systemic injection of either lipopolysaccharide or vehicle to unmask possible immune-priming effects of CAS. An NFκB signaling PCR array demonstrated that CAS exaggerated the expression of NFκB-related genes in the hippocampus of both males and females. Interestingly, targeted qPCR demonstrated that CAS potentiated the induction of hippocampal IL1B and REL mRNA in female rats only, suggesting that some immune effects of CAS are indeed sex-specific. In contrast to the hippocampal findings, indices of peripheral inflammation such as NFκB activity in the spleen, plasma IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and corticosterone were not impacted by CAS in female rats. Despite showing no pro-inflammatory changes to hippocampal mRNA, male CAS rats displayed lower plasma corticosterone response to LPS at 2 h after injection followed by an exaggerated plasma IL-1β response at 4 h. This potentially blunted corticosterone response coupled with excessive innate immune signaling in the periphery is consistent with possible glucocorticoid resistance in males. In contrast, the effects of CAS manifested as excessive hippocampal immune reactivity in females. We conclude that while a history of exposure to chronic adolescent stress enhances adult immune reactivity in both males and females, the mechanism and manifestation of such alterations are sex-specific.

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Sex-specific peripheral and central responses to stress-induced depression and treatment in a mouse model.

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