Brain Sciences (Jul 2022)

Assessing Anti-Social and Aggressive Behavior in a Zebrafish (<i>Danio rerio</i>) Model of Parkinson’s Disease Chronically Exposed to Rotenone

  • Ovidiu-Dumitru Ilie,
  • Raluca Duta,
  • Roxana Jijie,
  • Ilinca-Bianca Nita,
  • Mircea Nicoara,
  • Caterina Faggio,
  • Romeo Dobrin,
  • Ioannis Mavroudis,
  • Alin Ciobica,
  • Bogdan Doroftei

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12070898
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 7
p. 898

Abstract

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Background: Rotenone (ROT) is currently being used in various research fields, especially neuroscience. Separated from other neurotoxins, ROT induces a Parkinson’s disease (PD)-related phenotype that mimics the associated clinical spectrum by directly entering the central nervous system (CNS). It easily crosses through the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and accumulates in mitochondria. Unfortunately, most of the existing data focus on locomotion. This is why the present study aimed to bring novel evidence on how ROT alone or in combination with different potential ant(agonists) might influence the social and aggressive behavior using the counterclockwise rotation as a neurological pointer. Material and Methods: Thus, we exposed zebrafish to ROT—2.5 µg/L, valproic acid (VPA)—0.5 mg/mL, anti-parkinsonian drugs (LEV/CARB)—250 mg + 25 mg, and probiotics (PROBIO)—3 g for 32 days by assessing the anti-social profile and mirror tests and counterclockwise rotation every 4 days to avoid chronic stress. Results: We observed an abnormal pattern in the counterclockwise rotation only in the (a) CONTROL, (c) LEV/CARB, and (d) PROBIO groups, from both the top and side views, this indicating a reaction to medication and supplements administered or a normal intrinsic feature due to high levels of stress/anxiety (p p p > 0.05). Except for groups (a) CONTROL and (d) PROBIO, where a normalized trend in terms of behavior was noted, the rest of the experimental groups exhibited exacerbated levels of aggression (p p < 0.05, 0.005, and 0.001). Conclusions: The (d) PROBIO group showed a significant improvement compared with (b) VPA, (c) LEV/CARB, and ROT-treated zebrafish (e–h). Independently of the aggressive-like reactions and fluctuations among the testing day(s) and groups, ROT disrupted the social behavior, while VPA promoted a specific typology in contrast with LEV/CARB.

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