O papel dos receptores histaminérgicos H1 da amídala na modulação da ansiedade e evocação da memória emocional em camundongos reexpostos ao labirinto em cruz elevado

Abstract

This study investigated the role of H1 amygdala receptors in state-dependent memory deficits induced by L-histidine (LH).To address this question, we investigated the effects of H1 antagonist chlorpheniramine (CPA) microinjected into the amygdala on anxiety and emotional memory retrieval in mice submitted to the EPM. Experimental subjects were 117 adult male Swiss mice weighing 25-32g at testing. Tests using an elevated plus-maze (EPM) were performed on two consecutive days: Trial 1 (T1) and Trial 2 (T2). Before each trial, mice were intraperitoneally (IP) injected with LH (500mg/kg), a histaminergic precursor. Two hours later, they were microinjected with chlorpheniramine (CPA; 0.016, 0.052, or 0.16 nmol/ 0.1 &#956;l), or saline (SAL) into the amygdala, and five minutes later reexposed to the EPM. For each CPA dose administered, the animals were randomly assigned to four groups based on drug treatment: control (i.p injection and i.a SAL), LH-SAL (i.p injection LH and i.a SAL), SAL-CPA (i.p injection SAL and i.a CPA) and LH-CPA (i.p injection of LH and i.a CPA). The data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher LSD tests. IP injection of LH and microinjection of CPA into the amygdala did not induce significant T1 differences between groups for percentages of open arm entries (%OAE) or open arm time (%OAT) (ANOVA, p > 0.05), which indicated that the drugs did not affect anxiety. In T2, the control group and the groups that received IP injection of SAL and an 0.016- or 0.052-mnol infusion of CPA (SAL-CPA) demonstrated significant reductions in open arm exploration (%OAE and %OAT) (p < 0.05), suggesting a retrieval of aversive information concerning the open arms. Importantly, the LH groups that received an injection of SAL (LH-SAL) or CPA (LH-CPA) did not exhibit decreased open arm activity; no significant differences in %OAE and %OAT (p > 0.05) were observed between T1 and T2, suggesting that the LH-induced deficit in emotional memory retrieval was not reversed by CPA injection. Furthermore, animals that received IP injections of SAL and 0.16 nmol infusion of CPA (SAL-CPA) did not exhibit decreased open arm exploration in T2 compared to T1 (p > 0.05). No significant changes were observed in the number of enclosed arm entries (EAE), an EPM index of general exploratory activity. Taken together, these results suggest that the H1 receptors in the amygdala are not implicated in anxiety-like behaviors but are involved in emotional memory deficits induced by the T1/T2 EPM protocol in mice.