Anxiety and cognition in female histidine decarboxylase knockout (Hdc -/-) mice

Summer F. Acevedo, Timothy Pfankuch, Hiroshi Ohtsu, Jacob Raber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Scopus citations

Abstract

The role of histamine in brain function has been studied using histidine decarboxylase (HDC) deficient male mice. As the effects of HDC deficiency on brain function might be sex-dependent, we behaviorally analyzed Hdc -/- and control female mice. Compared to female control mice, Hdc-/- female mice showed hypoactivity, increased measures of anxiety, impairments in water-maze performance, but enhanced passive avoidance memory retention. Following behavioral testing, arginine vasopression (AVP) immunoreactivity was higher in the dorsal hypothalamus and central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala of Hdc-/- than Hdc+/+ mice. Finally, MAP2 immunoreactivity in the hippocampal CA1 region correlated positively with measures of anxiety in the open-field and light-dark tests and negatively with performance during the hidden sessions of the water-maze. As the effects of HDC deficiency on object recognition, water-maze, and rotorod performance, were sex-dependent, it is important to consider potential effects of sex in the interpretation of the role of histaminergic neurotransmission in brain function.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)92-99
Number of pages8
JournalBehavioural Brain Research
Volume168
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 15 2006

Keywords

  • Elevated plus-maze
  • Elevated zero-maze
  • Light-dark
  • Microtubule-associated protein 2
  • Open-field
  • Water-maze

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Anxiety and cognition in female histidine decarboxylase knockout (Hdc -/-) mice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this