Stress-induced alterations of social behavior are reversible by antagonism of steroid hormones in C57/BL6 mice.

ABSTRACT: Various disturbances of social behavior, such as autism, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with an altered steroid hormone homeostasis and a dysregulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. A link between steroid hormone antagonists and the treatment of stress-related conditions has been suggested. We evaluated the effects of stress induction on social behavior in the three chambers and its potential reversibility upon specific steroid hormone antagonism in mice. C57BL/6 mice were stressed twice daily for 8 days by chronic swim testing. Social behavior was evaluated by measuring, first, the preference for sociability and, second, the preference for social novelty in the three-chamber approach before and after the chronic swim test. The reversibilit

SUBMITTER: Gasser BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7778626 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature