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Strain Differences in Fatigue and Depression after Experimental Stroke

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Abstract

Fatigue and depression are common symptoms after stroke. Animal models of poststroke fatigue (PSF) and poststroke depression (PSD) would facilitate the study of these symptoms. Spontaneous locomotor activity is as an objective measure of fatigue and learned helplessness an accepted correlate of depression. We used different rat strains to evaluate stroke-induced changes in behavior in hopes that interstrain differences would provide insights into the biological basis of these symptoms. Male Lewis, Wistar, and Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats underwent experimental stroke. Spontaneous activity was assessed continually after stroke (for up to 50 days). In a subset of animals, the forced swim test was performed prior to and 1 month after stroke to assess learned helplessness; blood was obtained at sacrifice for cytokine assay. Stroke induced strain-related differences in activity; Lewis rats increased spontaneous activity during the dark cycle, while Wistar and SD rats increased activity during the light cycle. The velocity of movement decreased during the dark cycle in Wistar and SD rats and during the light cycle in Lewis rats. Stroke also led to an increase in learned helplessness in Lewis rats. In summary, different patterns of behaviors emerge in different rat strains after stroke. Lewis rats displayed behavior consistent with depression but not fatigue, while Wistar and SD rats displayed behavior consistent with fatigue but not depression. These data argue that PSF and PSD are different biological constructs and suggest that analysis of strain-related differences may provide insight into symptom pathophysiology.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the American Heart Association (09GRNT2170094).

Conflict of Interest

Allison Kunze and Olga Drogomiretskiy have no conflicts of interests. Dannielle Zierath and Kyra Becker received funding from the American Heart Association (09GRNT2170094).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Allison Kunze, Dannielle Zierath, Olga Drogomiretskiy & Kyra Becker

  2. Box 359775 Harborview Medical Center, 325 9th Ave, Seattle, WA, 98104-2499, USA

    Kyra Becker

Authors
  1. Allison Kunze
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  2. Dannielle Zierath
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  3. Olga Drogomiretskiy
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  4. Kyra Becker
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Correspondence to Kyra Becker.

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Kunze, A., Zierath, D., Drogomiretskiy, O. et al. Strain Differences in Fatigue and Depression after Experimental Stroke. Transl. Stroke Res. 5, 604–611 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12975-014-0350-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12975-014-0350-1

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