The zebrafish tail immobilization (ZTI) test as a new tool to assess stress-related behavior and a potential screen for drugs affecting despair-like states

• Published in: Journal of neuroscience methods 2020-05, Vol.337, p.108637-108637, Article 108637
• Main Authors: Demin, Konstantin A., Lakstygal, Anton M., Chernysh, Maria V., Krotova, Natalia A., Taranov, Aleksandr S., Ilyin, Nikita P., Seredinskaya, Maria V., Tagawa, Natsuki, Savva, Anna K., Mor, Mikael S., Vasyutina, Marina L., Efimova, Evgeniya V., Kolesnikova, Tatyana O., Gainetdinov, Raul R., Strekalova, Tatyana, Amstislavskaya, Tamara G., de Abreu, Murilo S., Kalueff, Allan V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral despair; Depression; Drug screening; Immobilization; Zebrafish
• ISSN: 0165-0270; 1872-678X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108637

[Display omitted] •Zebrafish may have despair-like behavior, similarly to rodents.•Zebrafish despair-like behavior can be assessed using the Zebrafish Tail Immobilization test (ZTI).•Zebrafish subjected to stress prior to the ZTI test exposure increase despair-like behavior.•Exposure to antidepressant, but not anxiolytic, agents reduces the ZTI test despair-like behavior.•ZTI performance may be associated with altered serotonin and dopamine brain metabolism. Affective disorders, especially depression and anxiety, are highly prevalent, debilitating mental illnesses. Animal experimental models are a valuable tool in translational affective neuroscience research. A hallmark phenotype of clinical and experimental depression, the learned helplessness, has become a key target for 'behavioral despair'-based animal models of depression. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has recently emerged as a promising novel organism for affective disease modeling and CNS drug screening. Despite being widely used to assess stress and anxiety-like behaviors, there are presently no clear-cut despair-like models in zebrafish. Here, we introduce a novel behavioral paradigm, the zebrafish tail immobilization (ZTI) test, as a potential tool to assess zebrafish despair-like behavior. Conceptually similar to rodent 'despair' models, the ZTI protocol involves immobilizing the caudal half of the fish body for 5 min, leaving the cranial part to move freely, suspended vertically in a small beaker with water. To validate this model, we used exposure to low-voltage electric shock, alarm pheromone, selected antidepressants (sertraline and amitriptyline) and an anxiolytic drug benzodiazepine (phenazepam), assessing the number of mobility episodes, time spent 'moving', total distance moved and other activity measures of the cranial part of the body, using video-tracking. Both electric shock and alarm pheromone decreased zebrafish activity in this test, antidepressants increased it, and phenazepam was inactive. Furthermore, a 5-min ZTI exposure increased serotonin turnover, elevating the 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid/serotonin ratio in zebrafish brain, while electric shock prior to ZTI elevated both this and the 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid/dopamine ratios. In contrast, preexposure to antidepressants sertraline and amitriptyline lowered both ratios, compared to the ZTI test-exposed fish. The ZTI test is the first despair-like experimental model in zebrafish. Collectively, this study suggests the ZTI te