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Anxiety in rats with bile duct ligation is associated with activation of JNK3 mitogen-activated protein kinase in the hippocampus

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Abstract

We examine the anxiety-like behaviors in rats with bile duct ligation (BDL), as well as its relationship with the expression of JNK3 and P38 MAPKs in rat hippocampus. Male Wistar rats undergo either sham operation or BDL as a rat model of cirrhotic HE. The anxiety-like behaviors are determined using a light/dark box test two hours befor the surgery on day 1 and on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 of BDL. The gene and protein expression levels of JNK3 and p38 in the hippocampus were examined respectively with qPCR and western blotting methods on day 28 of BDL. The results revealed that anxiety was increased in the cirrhotic HE model rats during 28 days of BDL. The molecular data indicated that the gene expression of Jnk3 and protein levels of JNK3, as well as phospho-JNK3, significantly increased in the hippocampus of the cirrhotic HE model rats compared to the sham control group. However, the results revealed no significant changes in the gene expression and the protein levels of p38 as well as phospho-p38 in the hippocampus of the cirrhotic HE model rats compared to the sham control group. We conclude that the increases in the expression and activation of JNK3 MAPK in the hippocampus may underlie, at least partly, the anxiety-like behaviors in rats with cirrhotic HE.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Vice-Chancellorship of Research and Technology, University of Kurdistan (Grant No. 1395/2016).

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  1. Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Kurdistan, P.O. Box 416, Sanandaj, Iran

    Shamseddin Ahmadi & Shiler Khaledi

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  1. Shamseddin Ahmadi
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S. A. designed the study, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. S. K. performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript. S. A. revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shamseddin Ahmadi.

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Ahmadi, S., Khaledi, S. Anxiety in rats with bile duct ligation is associated with activation of JNK3 mitogen-activated protein kinase in the hippocampus. Metab Brain Dis 35, 579–588 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-020-00542-1

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