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Differential behavioral responses of zebrafish larvae to yohimbine treatment

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Abstract

Rationale

Yohimbine demonstrated both anxiogenic and anxiolytic properties under different conditions in rodents. Few studies were conducted on zebrafish, a newly emerged vertebrate model organism. Zebrafish larvae are particularly suitable for high-throughput screening of drug effects.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of yohimbine on the anxiety-related behaviors of zebrafish larvae.

Methods

AB strain zebrafish larvae at both 5 and 7 days postfertilization (dpf) were treated with different concentrations of yohimbine. General locomotor activities and thigmotaxis behavior were analyzed under continuous illumination, which represented normal condition, or under alternating light-dark challenges, which represented stressful environment.

Results

Under continuous illumination, the 5-dpf larvae demonstrated increased swimming distances at low yohimbine concentrations, whereas the 7-dpf larvae demonstrated progressively decreased swimming distances with increases in yohimbine concentration. Low concentrations of yohimbine reduced thigmotaxis of the larvae, while high concentrations of yohimbine increased it. During the dark period of the light-dark challenge phase, low concentrations of yohimbine increased swimming distances of the larvae at both 5 and 7 dpf, while high concentrations of yohimbine decreased it. Yohimbine induced increased thigmotaxis in both 5- and 7-dpf larvae during the dark period.

Conclusions

Under normal condition (lights on), low doses of yohimbine were anxiolytic in both the 5- and 7-dpf larvae, whereas high doses of yohimbine were anxiogenic only in the 7-dpf larvae. Under mildly stressful condition (lights off), yohimbine treatment demonstrated dose-dependent effects to potentiate anxiety-related behaviors in both the 5- and 7-dpf larvae, although the significant dose varied with age.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 81271509), Shanghai Pujiang Program (11PJ1401800) from the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, and Open Project of Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Ministry of Education, P.R. China to Li Q; Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (2012Z10268036) and Open Project of Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Ministry of Education, P.R. China to Guo N; National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 81070937, 81172397) to Chen XQ; and National Twelfth Five-Year Science and Technology Project (2012BAI01B09) and the 973 Program (2010CB529602) to He L.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Translational Medical Center for Development and Disease, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Birth Defect, Institute of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, 201102, China

    Qiang Li, Jia Lin, Yinglan Zhang & Xiuyun Liu

  2. Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases, Ministry of Education, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Xiao Qian Chen

  3. Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Ming-Qing Xu, Lin He & Sheng Li

  4. Center for Chinese Medical Therapy and Systems Biology, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Ning Guo

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  1. Qiang Li
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  2. Jia Lin
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  3. Yinglan Zhang
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  7. Lin He
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  8. Sheng Li
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  9. Ning Guo
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Correspondence to Qiang Li, Sheng Li or Ning Guo.

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Li, Q., Lin, J., Zhang, Y. et al. Differential behavioral responses of zebrafish larvae to yohimbine treatment. Psychopharmacology 232, 197–208 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3656-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3656-5

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