The prepulse inhibition deficit appearance is largely independent on the circadian cycle, body weight, and the gender of vasopressin deficient Brattleboro rat

Abstract

Objective. A disturbance of sensorimotor gating measured by prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle (PPI) is one of the best tests of the schizophrenia-like behavior. Vasopressin was implicated in the development of schizophrenia; therefore, the naturally occurring vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro rat has been suggested to be a reliable non-pharmacological animal model. However, previous studies focusing on PPI deficit did not use proper control and despite clear gender differences in the development of the disorder, the effect of gender has been mostly neglected.

Keywords

• schizophrenia
• ketamine
• male
• female
• lactation
• acoustic startle response