scholarly journals Odour conditioning of positive affective states: Rats can learn to associate an odour with being tickled

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Bombail ◽  
Nathalie Jerôme ◽  
Ho Lam ◽  
Sacha Muszlak ◽  
Simone L Meddle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Electric Shock ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Test Arena ◽  
Balanced Design ◽  
And Control

AbstractMost associative learning tests in rodents use negative stimuli, such as an electric shock. We investigated if young rats can learn to associate the presence of an odour with the experience of being tickled (i.e. using an experimenter’s hand to mimic rough-and-tumble play), shown to elicit 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs), which are indicative of positive affect. Male, pair-housed Wistar rats (N=24) were all exposed to two neutral odours (A and B) presented in a perforated container on alternate days in a test arena. Following 60s of exposure, the rats were either tickled on days when odour A (n=8) or odour B (n=8) was present, or never tickled (n=8). When tickled, rats produced significantly more 50 kHz USVs compared to the days when not being tickled, and compared to control rats. The level of anticipatory 50 kHz USVs in the 60s prior to tickling did not differ significantly between the tickled and control rats. Following the odour conditioning, rats were exposed successively in the same arena to three odours: an unknown neutral odour, extract of fox faeces, and either odours A or B. Compared to controls, 50 kHz USVs of tickled rats increased when exposed to the odour they had previously experienced when tickled, indicating that these rats had learned to associate the odour with the positive experience of being tickled. In a test with free access for 5 min to both arms of a T-maze, each containing one of the odours, rats tickled with odour A spent more time in the arm with this odour. This work is the first to test in a fully balanced design whether odours can be conditioned to tickling, and indicates that positive odour conditioning has potential to be used as an alternative to negative conditioning tests.

scholarly journals Attention Bias Test Measures Negative But Not Positive Affect in Sheep: A Replication Study

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1314
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Monk ◽  
Caroline Lee ◽  
Emily Dickson ◽  
Dana L. M. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Attention Bias ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Test Arena ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Negative Affective States ◽  
Effect Of Treatment ◽  
And Control ◽  
Positive Groups ◽  
Previous Location

An attention bias test has been developed as a measure of negative affective states in sheep. The test measures an individual’s allocation of attention between a threatening (previous location of a dog) and positive (conspecific photo) stimulus over a 3 min period. This study replicated a previously inconclusive study, to determine whether the test could assess positive affective states under more controlled conditions and with a younger population of animals. Pharmacological treatments were used to induce anxious, calm, happy, and control affective states prior to entering the attention bias test arena (n = 20/treatment). We hypothesized that sheep in positive and negative affective states could be differentiated using key measures of attention during testing, including vigilance (head at or above shoulder height) and duration looking towards the valenced stimuli. Anxious sheep were more vigilant than control animals during attention bias testing as predicted (linear mixed effects model, p = 0.002), but the positive groups did not differ from controls (p > 0.05). There was no effect of treatment on looking behaviors (p > 0.05). We suggest this attention bias test paradigm can assess negative but not positive affect in sheep and that modifications to the ethogram or stimuli are needed to more clearly characterize the direction of attention during testing.

Trans-resveratrol supplement lowers lipid peroxidation responses of exercise in male Wistar rats

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masoud Nasiri ◽  
Saja Ahmadizad ◽  
Mehdi Hedayati ◽  
Tayebe Zarekar ◽  
Mehdi Seydyousefi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Peroxidation ◽  
Antioxidant Capacity ◽  
Total Antioxidant Capacity ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Enzymatic Antioxidants ◽  
Acute Response ◽  
Total Antioxidant ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
Exercise Induced ◽  
And Control

Abstract. Physical exercise increases free radicals production; antioxidant supplementation may improve the muscle fiber’s ability to scavenge ROS and protect muscles against exercise-induced oxidative damage. This study was designed to examine the effects of all-trans resveratrol supplementation as an antioxidant to mediate anti-oxidation and lipid per-oxidation responses to exercise in male Wistar rats. Sixty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal number (n = 16) including training + supplement (TS), training (T), supplement (S) and control (C) group. The rats in TS and S groups received a dose of 10 mg/kg resveratrol per day via gavage. The training groups ran on a rodent treadmill 5 times per week at the speed of 10 m/min for 10 min; the speed gradually increased to 30 m/min for 60 minutes at the end of 12th week. The acute phase of exercise protocol included a speed of 25 m/min set to an inclination of 10° to the exhaustion point. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) activity, non-enzymatic antioxidants bilirubin, uric acid, lipid peroxidation levels (MDA) and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured after the exercise termination. The data were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. The result showed that endurance training caused a significant increase in MDA level [4.5 ± 0.75 (C group) vs. 5.9 ± 0.41 nmol/l (T group)] whereas it decreased the total antioxidant capacity [8.5 ± 1.35 (C group) vs. 7.1 ± 0.55 mmol/l (T group)] (p = 0.001). In addition, GPx and CAT decreased but not significantly (p > 0.05). The training and t-resveratrol supplementation had no significant effect on the acute response of all variables except MDA [4.3 ± 1.4 (C group) vs. 4.0 ± 0.90 nmol/l (TS group)] (p = 0.001) and TAC [8.5 ± 0.90 (C group) vs. 6.6 ± 0.80 mmol/l (TS group)] (p = 0.004). It was concluded that resveratrol supplementation may prevent exercise-induced oxidative stress by preventing lipid peroxidation.

scholarly journals Effects of a new thyrotropic drug isolated from Potentilla alba on the male reproductive system of rats and offspring development

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lubov V. Krepkova ◽  
Valentina V. Bortnikova ◽  
Aleksandra N. Babenko ◽  
Praskovya G. Mizina ◽  
Vladimir A. Mkhitarov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Study ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Childbearing Age ◽  
Offspring Development ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
And Control

Abstract Background The dysfunction of the thyroid gland is a common medical condition. Nowadays, patients frequently use medicinal herbs as complementary or alternative options to conventional drug treatments. These patients may benefit from treatment of thyroid dysfunctions with Potentilla alba L. preparations. While it has been reported that Potentilla alba preparations have low toxicity, nothing is known about their ability to affect reproductive functions in patients of childbearing age. Methods Male Wistar rats were orally treated with a thyrotrophic botanical drug, standardized Potentilla alba Dry Extract (PADE), at doses 8 and 40 times higher than the median therapeutic dose recommended for the clinical trials, for 60 consecutive days. Male Wistar rats receiving water (H2O) were used as controls. After completing treatment, half of the PADE-treated and control males were used to determine PADE gonadotoxicity, and the remaining half of PADE-treated and control males were mated with intact females. Two female rats were housed with one male for two estrus cycles. PADE effects on fertility and fetal/offspring development were evaluated. Results Herein, we report that oral treatment of male Wistar rats with PADE before mating with intact females instigated marked effects on male reproductive organs. Treatment significantly decreased the motility of the sperm and increased the number of pathological forms of spermatozoa. Additionally, a dose-dependent effect on Leydig cells was observed. However, these PADE effects did not significantly affect male fertility nor fetal and offspring development when PADE-treated males were mated with intact females. Conclusions PADE treatment of male rates negatively affected sperm and testicular Leydig cell morphology. However, these changes did not affect male fertility and offspring development. It is currently not known whether PADE treatment may affect human male fertility and offspring development. Therefore, these results from an animal study need to be confirmed in humans. Results from this animal study can be used to model the exposure-response relationship and adverse outcomes in humans.

scholarly journals Savouring as an Intervention to Decrease Negative Affect in Anxious Mothers of Children with Autism and Neurotypical Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 652
Author(s):  
Ariel Pereira ◽  
Atiqah Azhari ◽  
Chloe Hong ◽  
Gerin Gaskin ◽  
Jessica Borelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Positive Experience ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Mother Child Relationships ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Individual

Savouring is an emotion regulation strategy and intervention that focuses on the process of attending, intensifying and prolonging positive experiences and positive affect associated with these memories. Personal savouring involves a reflection on positive memories that are specific to the individual and do not involve others. In contrast, relational savouring entails reflecting on instances when people were responsive to the needs of their significant others. Such interventions hold potential benefits in enhancing positive affect (PA) and reducing negative affect (NA) for both parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and parents of neurotypical children. Adults with greater symptoms of generalised anxiety have been found to have less PA and more NA. However, no study has investigated the effects of a mother’s anxiety symptoms on the efficacy of savouring in enhancing PA and reducing NA. Thus, this paper combined personal and relational savouring to investigate whether savouring may enhance PA and reduce NA of a pooled sample of mothers of neurotypical children and mothers of children with ASD. 52 mothers of neurotypical children and 26 mothers of children with ASD aged 3–7 years old were given a series of questionnaires and randomly assigned to either relational savouring or personal savouring conditions. In relational savouring, mothers were asked to reflect upon a shared positive experience with their child while in the personal savouring condition, a personal positive experience was recalled. Across mothers of children with ASD and neurotypical children, findings suggest that savouring leads to a decrease in NA (p < 0.01) but not increases in PA. Similarly, mothers with higher levels of anxiety experience a greater decrease in NA (p < 0.001) compared to mothers with lower levels of anxiety post-savouring. This study proposes that a brief savouring intervention may be effective among mothers of preschoolers. As lower levels of negative affect is linked to healthier psychological well-being, mothers might be able to engage in more effective and warm parenting after savouring exercises, which would cultivate positive mother-child relationships that benefit their children in the long-term.

scholarly journals Effects of proportional high-protein/low-carbohydrate formulated diet consumption in diabetic rats: Beneficial impact on glycemic and weight control

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (07) ◽  
pp. 16984-16996
Author(s):  
MMC Anyakudo ◽  
◽  
DO Adeniji ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
High Protein ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Formulated Diet ◽  
Low Carbohydrate ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
And Control

The metabolic response to nutrient ingestion and the rate of digestion and absorption of nutrient molecules in bowel physiology plays an important role in the metabolic control of some human chronic non-infectious diseases. This experimentally-controlled designed nutritional study which lasted eight weeks aimed to determine the effects of proportional high-protein/low-carbohydrate (HP/LC) formulated diet on glycemic tolerance, glycemic control, body weight, organ weight and organ morphometry in healthy and diabetic adult male Wistar rats. Twenty-four male Wistar rats purchased from a disease-free stock were randomly categorized into four groups (n = 6, each) after two weeks acclimatization period in raised stainless steel cages with 6 mm2mesh floor and replaceable numbered blotters papers placed under each cage in a well-ventilated animal house. Animal groups include: Healthy control group (HC), Healthy treated group (HT), Diabetic control group (DC) and Diabetic treated group (DT. The animals were fed according to the experimental design with water ad libitumfor eight weeks. Diabetes was inducted with freshly prepared alloxan monohydrate solution (150 mg/kg bw, intraperitoneally). Body weights and fasting blood sugar concentrations were measured twice weekly, while oral glucose tolerance test was conducted on the last day of the eighth-week study and subsequently followed by organs extraction after anesthesia for weight and gross assessment. Proportional high-protein/low-carbohydrate formulated diet caused significant reduction in mean body weight of treated diabetic (DT: 22.6%; P= .001) and healthy (HT: 5.8%; P= .007) rats while the control animals on control diet recorded significant (P< .05) increase in body weight gain (DC: 12.4%; HC: 11.2%). Glycemic tolerance and control improved significantly in diabetic treated rats over that of the healthy treated rats. Gross morphometry of the extracted organs (kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, spleen and testes) revealed sustained normal morphological features without any visible lesion. In conclusion, consumption of proportional high-protein/low-carbohydrate formulated diet enhanced body weight reduction and sustained normal organ morphological features with good glycemic tolerance and control in experimental rats, suggesting its dietary potentiality, safety and suitability to ameliorate obesity-related diabetes.

scholarly journals Ciprofloxacin loaded castor oil based emulsion: Its antimicrobial, hematotoxicity and soft tissue pathophysiological study in Wister rats

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bamisaye ◽  
C. O. Eromosele ◽  
E. O. Dare ◽  
O. A. Akinloye
Keyword(s):  
Oral Delivery ◽  
Castor Oil ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Blood Chemistry ◽  
Diffusion Method ◽  
Hematological Indices ◽  
Control Set ◽  
Set Up ◽  
And Control ◽  
Histological Architecture

The emergence of nanocarrier for drug delivery has been flanked with great achievements in the field of nanomedicine. It is however unsafe to assume their toxicological safety. This necessitated examining the toxico-dynamics of ciprofloxacin loaded castor oil based emulsion (COAB+Cp). The emulsions were prepared by mechano-chemical process. The effects of 10 mL per kg of body-weight (BW) of COAB+Cp was estimated in Adult Wistar rats (n=10) for 21 days vis-à-vis a control set up, treated with equal volume of distilled water. The biochemical and haematological parameters were conducted with histopathology of the heart, kidney, spleen and liver. Also, the antimicrobial study on Bacillus. Subtilis (BS) was carried out using the agar well diffusion method. No observable abnormal change in BW gain of both test and control animals. Treatment of animals with COAB+Cp did not cause any observable significant change at P > 0.05 in the blood-chemistry parameters and hematological indices. The photopathological examinations indicates that the histological architecture of vital organs (heart, liver, kidney and spleen) was not compromised in COAB+Cp treated animals. While the recorded value of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of COAB+Cp corroborated its mean zone of inhibition (ZI) values, signifying a better bioactivity of COAB+Cp compared to Cp on BS. COAB+Cp has no cardiotoxic, hematotoxic and hepatotoxic effects on Wistar rats, with increased potency of the encapsulated Cp thus appears promising as a safe vehicle for oral delivery of ciprofloxacin.

scholarly journals Levels of glutathione-related antioxidants in some tissues of stressed Wistar rats

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 167-176
Author(s):  
Bartholomew Chukwuebuka Nwogueze ◽  
Anthony Emeka Ojieh ◽  
Chukwuemeka Peter Aloamaka ◽  
John Chukwuka Igweh ◽  
Innocent Onyesom
Keyword(s):  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Antioxidant Activities ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Female Wistar Rats ◽  
The Impact

Objectives: Oxidative stress (OS)-related pathologic conditions in the tissues of living organism have been linked to exposure to stressful events within the environment. This study examined the impact of different kinds of stress exposure on glutathione (GSH)-related antioxidants. The effect of stress was examined using comparative levels of GSH, glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in female Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty-eight adult female Wistar rats with body weights ranging between 150 and 200 g, were used for the study. The animals were distributed into 28 groups of six animals each. The experimental animals were routinely exposed to three different stressors; restraint chamber test, mirror chamber test and intruder chamber test for a duration of 1, 3 or 5 h per day for 1, 2 and 3 weeks, respectively. All animals were allowed free access to food (rat chaws), with water ad libitum. Animals were euthanise through cervical dislocation after the experimental period and the different target tissues were carefully harvested and homogenised for antioxidant estimation following standard procedure. Data obtained were statistically analysed and values expressed as mean ± standard error of mean and P < 0.05 level was considered as statistically significant. Results: Findings from this study elucidated the fact that exposure to stress is capable of causing marked OS and reducing GSH-based antioxidant activities in Wistar rats. A decline in the GSH level and GPx activity as observed in the study is an indication of alterations of kidney and brain tissue cellular integrity by free radicals generated during exposure to the stressors, while the observed significant increase in GST activity level in the affected tissues indicates compromised rapid exhaustion of the cellular system. Conclusion: Hence, we conclude that stress of different nature, intensity and duration can alter the levels of GSH-related antioxidants, especially in the kidney, ovary and brain tissues of stressed Wistar rats. The GSH levels in liver tissues were observed not to have changed significantly despite the oxidative damage caused by the stressors.

Transplacental Toxicity and Carcinogenesis Studies in Rats with Hexamethylenetetramine

1970 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 325-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Della Porta ◽  
José R. Cabral ◽  
Giorgio Parmiani
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
The Body ◽  
Carcinogenic Activity ◽  
Long Term Experiments ◽  
Pregnancy And Lactation ◽  
Successive Generations ◽  
And Control

In a previous paper (Fd Cosmet. Toxicol., 6: 707–715, 1968) it was reported that hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) had no carcinogenic activity in long-term experiments in mice and rats. In the present study, 12 ♀ and 6 ♂ Wistar rats were given 1% HMT in the drinking water starting 2 weeks before mating. The females were kept under treatment during pregnancy and lactation. A similar untreated group of 12 ♀ and 6 ♂ served as control. Twelve treated females and eleven controls became pregnant and gave birth to 124 and 118 babies respectively; no malformations were noted. From these animals, 24 for each sex were continued on the 1% HMT up to the 20th week of age or were kept untreated. The body weight of treated animals was significantly lower than that of controls one, only up to the 9th week of age for the males and up to the 13th week for the females. At the end of the treatment both groups were sacrificed; the weight of organs was identical in the treated and control animals; there were no gross or histological pathology. In a second experiment, rats were given 1% HMT in the drinking water for 3 successive generations, up to the age of 40 weeks in the F1 and F2 groups and of 20 weeks for F3. The three groups were composed of 13 ♂ and 7 ♀, 15 ♂ and 11 ♀, 12 ♂ and 12 ♂, respectively. In addition, a group of 16 ♂ and 16 ♀ descendants of 2% HMT treated parents, were given 2% HMT for 50 weeks. A group of 48 ♂ and 48 ♀ served as untreated controls. All groups were kept under observation for over 2 years of age. No evidence of carcinogenicity was found in any of the HMT-treated groups.

Enhancement of Exploratory Behavior by Strychnine Sulfate

1968 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 876-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
George C. Theologus ◽  
Robert G. Gibby ◽  
Robert G. Gibby ◽  
David G. Crough
Keyword(s):  
Open Field ◽  
Exploratory Behavior ◽  
Wistar Rats ◽  
Male Wistar Rats ◽  
And Control

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of strychnine sulfate on the exploratory behavior of male, Wistar rats in an open field. The number of times S reared in a stimulus square and the number of stimuli to which a S reared were recorded for both experimental and control Ss. Analyses of covariance performed on both measures of exploratory behavior showed that exploratory behavior was significantly increased by strychnine sulfate.

Finding Resilience: The Mediation Effect of Sense of Community on the Psychological Well-Being of Military Spouses

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Chuan Wang ◽  
Pius Nyutu ◽  
Kimberly Tran ◽  
Angela Spears
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Military Spouses ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Military Community ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Military

The goal of this study was to identify positive factors that increase the psychological well-being of military spouses in the areas of environmental mastery. We proposed that positive affect and social support from family and friends would have indirect effects on psychological well-being through their association with a greater sense of community with the military culture. Participants were 207 female spouses of active-duty service members. Data were analyzed using MEDIATE to test the mediational effect. Results indicated that social support from friends and positive affect did predict a sense of community, which in turn was associated with increased feelings of psychological well-being. The findings suggest that a perceived sense of military community helps military spouses gain a sense of mastery and control in a constantly changing environment.

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