Neuropsychiatric Diseases
/// Depression & Anxiety
Chronic restraint stress (3 h/day during 3 weeks) in mice or rats induces anhedonia, behavioral despair, increases adrenal weight, and induces an hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis.
The model mimics the main symptoms in depression and is suitable for the rapid, multi-factorial analysis and antidepressant drugs.
/// Schizophrenia
Polyriboinosinic–polyribocytidilic acid (polyI:C) is a synthetic analogue of double-stranded RNA that leads to the pronounced but time-limited production of pro-in ammatory cytokines through the activation of toll-like receptor 3. Neonatal polyI:C treatment in mice show schizophrenia-like behavioral and neurochemical abnormalities in adulthood.