AUTHOR=Lee Tung-Yen , Yi Pei-Lu , Chang Fang-Chia 

TITLE=Hypocretin role in posttraumatic stress disorder-like behaviors induced by a novel stress protocol in mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1196994

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1196994

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder developed in individuals who expose to traumatic events. These patients may experience symptoms, such as recurrent unwanted memory of the traumatic event, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, increased arousal, and cognitive difficulty. The hypocretinergic system originates from the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and projects diffusely to the whole brain, and hypocretin may be involved in the features of stress-related disorder, PTSD. Our study aimed to investigate the role of basolateral amygdala (BLA) hypocretin signals in the pathophysiology of PTSD-like symptoms induced by the modified multiple-prolonged stress (MPS) protocol. The BLA, a brain region involved in fear-related behaviors, receives the hypocretin projections. In this study, TCS1102, a dual hypocretin receptor antagonist, was used to block the hypocretin signal in BLA. Our data indicated that blockade of hypocretin signaling in the BLA partially reduced PTSD-like anxiety behaviors, performed by the open field test (OFT) and This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article elevated plus maze (EPM) task, induced by the MPS protocol. These findings suggest that the hypocretinergic system is a potential therapeutic approach for PTSD treatment.