Emeritus Professor Deborah Hodgson

Rodent models play a significant role in understanding disease mechanisms and the screening of new treatments. With regard to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, however, it is difficult to replicate the human symptoms in rodents because these symptoms are often either 'uniquely human' or are only conveyed via self-report. There is a growing interest in rodent mismatch responses (MMRs) as a translatable 'biomarker' for disorders such as schizophrenia. In this review, we will summarize the attributes of human MMN, and discuss the scope of exploring the attributes of human MMN in rodents. Here, we examine how reliably MMRs that are measured in rats mimic human attributes, and present original data examining whether manipulations of stimulus conditions known to modulate human MMN, do the same for rat MMRs. Using surgically-implanted epidural electroencephalographic electrodes and wireless telemetry in freely-moving rats, we observed human-like modulations of MMRs, namely that larger MMRs were elicited to unexpected (deviant) stimuli that a) had a larger change in pitch compared to the expected (standard) stimulus, b) were less frequently presented (lower probability), and c) had no jitter (stable stimulus onset asynchrony) compared to high jitter. Overall, these findings contribute to the mounting evidence for rat MMRs as a good analogue of human MMN, bolstering the development of a novel approach in future to validate the preclinical models based on a translatable biomarker, MMN.

Many factors and their interaction are linked to the aetiology of schizophrenia, leading to the development of animal models of multiple risk factors and adverse exposures. Differentiating between separate and combined effects for each factor could better elucidate schizophrenia pathology, and drive development of preventative strategies for high-load risk factors. An epidemiologically valid risk factor commonly associated with schizophrenia is adolescent cannabis use. The aim of this review is to evaluate how early-life adversity from various origins, in combination with adolescent cannabinoid exposure interact, and whether these interactions confer main, synergistic or protective effects in animal models of schizophrenia-like behavioural, cognitive and morphological alterations. Patterns emerge regarding which models show consistent synergistic or protective effects, particularly those models incorporating early-life exposure to maternal deprivation and maternal immune activation, and sex-specific effects are observed. It is evident that more research needs to be conducted to better understand the risks and alterations of interacting factors, with particular interest in sex differences, to better understand the translatability of these preclinical models to humans.

Converging lines of evidence suggest that the relationship between the gut and the brain is a factor in the onset of psychopathology. The complexity of this relationship from development to adulthood, and its central roles in general health and wellbeing, are becoming increasingly appreciated. In particular, the composition of bacteria within the gut is now believed to have a key role in mental health. We outline recent literature on alterations in the gut microbiome in response to stress throughout development. We review how these alterations can lead to perturbations in immune responses and to psychiatric disorders, and we discuss current methods of altering the microbiome to treat these disorders. This review aims to provide a better understanding of the relationship between stress, the microbiome, immune responses and psychopathology.

One of the most robust electrophysiological features of schizophrenia is reduced mismatch negativity, a component of the event related potential (ERP) induced by rare and unexpected stimuli in an otherwise regular pattern. Emerging evidence suggests that mismatch negativity (MMN) is not the only ERP index of deviance detection in the mammalian brain and that sensitivity to deviant sounds in a regular background can be observed at earlier latencies in both the human and rodent brain. Pharmacological studies in humans and rodents have previously found that MMN reductions similar to those seen in schizophrenia can be elicited by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism, an observation in agreement with the hypothesised role of NMDA receptor hypofunction in schizophrenia pathogenesis. However, it is not known how NMDA receptor antagonism affects early deviance detection responses. Here, we show that NMDA antagonism impacts both early and late deviance detection responses. By recording EEG in awake, freely-moving rats in a drug-free condition and after varying doses of NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801, we found the hypothesised reduction of deviance detection for a late, negative potential (N55). However, the amplitude of an early component, P13, as well as deviance detection evident in the same component, were increased by NMDA receptor antagonism. These findings indicate that late deviance detection in rats is similar to human MMN, but the surprising effect of MK-801 in increasing ERP amplitudes as well as deviance detection at earlier latencies suggests that future studies in humans should examine ERPs over early latencies in schizophrenia and after NMDA antagonism.

Animal models of maternal immune activation study the effects of infection, an environmental risk factor for schizophrenia, on brain development. Microglia activation and cytokine upregulation may have key roles in schizophrenia neuropathology. We hypothesised that maternal immune activation induces changes in microglia and cytokines in the brains of the adult offspring. Maternal immune activation was induced by injecting polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid into pregnant rats on gestational day (GD) 10 or GD19, with brain tissue collected from the offspring at adulthood. We observed no change in Iba1, Gfap, IL1-ß and TNF-a mRNA levels in the cingulate cortex (CC) in adult offspring exposed to maternal immune activation. Prenatal exposure to immune activation had a significant main effect on microglial IBA1-positive immunoreactive material (IBA1+IRM) in the corpus callosum; post-hoc analyses identified a significant increase in GD19 offspring, but not GD10. No change in was observed in the CC. In contrast, maternal immune activation had a significant main effect on GFAP+IRM in the CC at GD19 (not GD10); post-hoc analyses only identified a strong trend towards increased GFAP+IRM in the GD19 offspring, with no white matter changes. This suggests late gestation maternal immune activation causes subtle alterations to microglia and astrocytes in the adult offspring.

Objectives: Gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation and GI integrity deficits are common comorbidities of neuropsychiatric disorders. Ongoing research suggests that these aberrations may be contributing to heightened immune signals that have the potential to disrupt neuronal homeostasis and exacerbate behavioural deficits. The current study aimed to determine whether the well-characterized animal model of neuropsychopathology, the maternal immune activation (MIA) model, produced GI inflammation and integrity disruptions in association with anxiety-like behaviour. Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to the viral mimetic polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidilic acid (polyI:C) on gestational days (GD) 10 and 19. Evidence of ANS activation, GI inflammation, and GI barrier integrity was assessed in both neonatal (postnatal day, P7) and adult (P84) offspring. Anxiety-like behaviour was assessed at P100. Results: Neonatal MIA offspring exhibited an altered intestinal inflammatory profile and evidence of an increase in lymphoid aggregates. MIA neonates also displayed disruptions to GI barrier tight junction protein mRNA. In addition, adult MIA offspring exhibited an increase in anxiety-like behaviours. Conclusion: These results indicate that the MIA rat model, which is well documented to produce behavioural, neurochemical, and neuroanatomical abnormalities, also produces GI inflammation and integrity disruptions. We suggest that this model may be a useful tool to elucidate biological pathways associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.

Existing evidence suggests that cybersickness may be clinically different from "classic," motion-induced sickness; this evidence was, however, obtained in separate studies that focused on just one of the two conditions. Our aim was to bring clarity to this issue by directly comparing subjective symptoms and physiological effects of motion sickness induced by physical motion (Coriolis cross-coupling) and by immersion in virtual reality (ride on a roller coaster) in the same subjects. A cohort of 30 young, healthy volunteers was exposed to both stimulations in a counterbalanced order on 2 separate days =1 wk apart. Nausea scores were recorded during the exposure, and the Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ) was used to profile subjective symptoms postexperiment. Tonic and phasic forehead skin conductance level (SCL) was measured before and during exposure in both stimulation methods. We found that the nausea onset times were significantly correlated in both tests (r 0.40, P 0.03). Similarly, the maximum nausea ratings were significantly correlated during both provocations (r 0.58, P 0.0012). Symptom-profiling with the MSAQ revealed substantial and significant correlations between total symptom scores (r 0.69, P < 0.0001) between each of 4 symptom clusters and between 15/18 individual symptoms assessed in both conditions. Both virtual reality and Coriolis cross-coupling provocations caused an increase in tonic SCL associated with nausea [mean difference (mean diff) 5.1, confidence interval (CI) (2.59, 6.97), P 0.007 and mean diff 1.49, CI (0.47, 7.08), P 0.0001, respectively], with a close correlation between the conditions (r 0.48, P 0.04). This was accompanied by a significant increase in the amplitude of phasic skin conductance transients in both visual stimulation and Coriolis cross-coupling when participants reported maximum nausea compared with no nausea [mean diff 0.27, CI (0.091, 0.63), P < 0.001 and mean diff 0.235, CI (0.053, 0.851), P < 0.006, respectively]. We conclude that symptoms and physiological changes occurring during cybersickness and classic motion sickness are quite similar, at least during advanced stages of these malaises.

There is a rapidly accumulating body of evidence regarding the influential role of early life stress (ELS) upon medical and psychiatric conditions. While self-report instruments, with their intrinsic limitations of recall, remain the primary means of detecting ELS in humans, biological measures are generally limited to a single biological system. This paper describes the design, rationale and feasibility of a study to simultaneously measure neuroendocrine, immune and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses to psychological and physiological stressors in relation to ELS. Five healthy university students were recruited by advertisement. Exclusion criteria included chronic medical conditions, psychotic disorders, needle phobia, inability to tolerate pain, and those using anti-inflammatory medications. They were clinically interviewed and physiological recordings made over a two-hour period pre, during and post two acute stressors: the cold pressor test and recalling a distressing memory. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Index were utilised to measure ELS. Other psychological measures of mood and personality were also administered. Measurements of heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, skin conductance, skin blood flow and temporal plasma samples were successfully obtained before, during and after acute stress. Participants reported the extensive psychological and multisystem physiological data collection and stress provocations were tolerable. Most (4/5) participants indicated a willingness to return to repeat the protocol, indicating acceptability. Our protocol is viable and safe in young physically healthy adults and allows us to assess simultaneously neuroendocrine, immune and autonomic nervous system responses to stressors in persons assessed for ELS.

Maternal exposure to infectious agents during gestation has been identified as a significant risk factor for schizophrenia. Using a mouse model, past work has demonstrated that the gestational timing of the immune-activating event can impact the behavioural phenotype and expression of dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission markers in the offspring. In order to determine the inter-species generality of this effect to rats, another commonly used model species, the current study investigated the impact of a viral mimetic Poly (I:C) at either an early (gestational day 10) or late (gestational day 19) time-point on schizophrenia-related behaviour and neurotransmitter receptor expression in rat offspring. Exposure to Poly (I:C) in late, but not early, gestation resulted in transient impairments in working memory. In addition, male rats exposed to maternal immune activation (MIA) in either early or late gestation exhibited sensorimotor gating deficits. Conversely, neither early nor late MIA exposure altered locomotor responses to MK-801 or amphetamine. In addition, increased dopamine 1 receptor mRNA levels were found in the nucleus accumbens of male rats exposed to early gestational MIA. The findings from this study diverge somewhat from previous findings in mice with MIA exposure, which were often found to exhibit a more comprehensive spectrum of schizophrenia-like phenotypes in both males and females, indicating potential differences in the neurodevelopmental vulnerability to MIA exposure in the rat with regards to schizophrenia related changes.

Altered motivated behaviour is a cardinal feature of several neuropsychiatric conditions including mood disorders. One well-characterized antecedent to the development of mood disorders is exposure to early life stress (ELS). A key brain substrate controlling motivated behaviour is the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Here, we examined the effect of ELS on LH activation and the motivation to self-administer sucrose. We tested whether chemogenetic activation of LH circuits could modify sucrose responding in ELS rats and examined the impact on LH cell populations. Male rat pups were maternally separated for 0 or 3¿h on postnatal days 2¿14. During adolescence, rats received bilateral injections of hM3D(Gq), the excitatory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs, into LH. In adulthood, rats were trained to self-administer sucrose and tested under a progressive ratio schedule to determine their motivation for reward following injection with either vehicle or 5¿mg/kg clozapine-N-oxide. Brains were processed for Fos-protein immunohistochemistry. ELS significantly suppressed lever responding for sucrose, indicating a long-lasting impact of ELS on motivation circuits. hM3D(Gq) activation of LH increased responding, normalizing deficits in ELS rats, and increased Fos-positive orexin and MCH cell numbers within LH. Our findings indicate that despite being susceptible to environmental stressors, LH circuits retain the capacity to overcome ELS-induced deficits in motivated behaviour.

Interstitial neurons are located among white matter tracts of the human and rodent brain. Post-mortem studies have identified increased interstitial white matter neuron (IWMN) density in the fibre tracts below the cortex in people with schizophrenia. The current study assesses IWMN pathology in a model of maternal immune activation (MIA); a risk factor for schizophrenia. Experimental MIA was produced by an injection of polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C) into pregnant rats on gestational day (GD) 10 or GD19. A separate control group received saline injections. The density of neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN⁺) and somatostatin (SST⁺) IWMNs was determined in the white matter of the corpus callosum in two rostrocaudally adjacent areas in the 12week old offspring of GD10 (n=10) or GD19 polyI:C dams (n=18) compared to controls (n=20). NeuN⁺ IWMN density trended to be higher in offspring from dams exposed to polyI:C at GD19, but not GD10. A subpopulation of these NeuN⁺ IWMNs was shown to express SST. PolyI:C treatment of dams induced a significant increase in the density of SST⁺ IWMNs in the offspring when delivered at both gestational stages with more regionally widespread effects observed at GD19. A positive correlation was observed between NeuN⁺ and SST⁺ IWMN density in animals exposed to polyI:C at GD19, but not controls. This is the first study to show that MIA increases IWMN density in adult offspring in a similar manner to that seen in the brain in schizophrenia. This suggests the MIA model will be useful in future studies aimed at probing the relationship between IWMNs and schizophrenia.

The immune and nociceptive systems are shaped during the neonatal period where they undergo fine-tuning and maturation. Painful experiences during this sensitive period of development are known to produce long-lasting effects on the immune and nociceptive responses. It is less clear, however, whether inflammatory pain responses are primed by neonatal exposure to mild immunological stimuli, such as with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Here, we examine the impact of neonatal LPS exposure on inflammatory pain responses, peripheral and hippocampal interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), as well as mast cell number and degranulation in preadolescent and adult rats. Wistar rats were injected with LPS (0.05 mg/kg IP, Salmonella enteritidis) or saline on postnatal days (PNDs) 3 and 5 and later subjected to the formalin test at PNDs 22 and 80-97. At both time-points, and one-hour after formalin injection, blood and hippocampus were collected for measuring circulating and central IL-1ß levels using ELISA and Western blot, respectively. Paw tissue was also isolated to assess mast cell number and degree of degranulation using Toluidine Blue staining. Behavioural analyses indicate that at PND 22, LPS-challenged rats displayed enhanced flinching (p<.01) and licking (p<.01) in response to formalin injection. At PNDs 80-97, LPS-challenged rats exhibited increased flinching (p<.05), an effect observed in males only. Furthermore, neonatal LPS exposure enhanced circulating IL-1ß and mast cell degranulation in preadolescent but not adult rats following formalin injection. Hippocampal IL-1ß levels were increased in LPS-treated adult but not preadolescent rats in response to formalin injection. These data suggest neonatal LPS exposure produces developmentally regulated changes in formalin-induced behavioural responses, peripheral and central IL-1ß levels, as well as mast cell degranulation following noxious stimulation later in life. These findings highlight the importance of immune activation during the neonatal period in shaping immune response and pain sensitivity later in life. This is of clinical relevance given the high prevalence of bacterial infection during the neonatal period, particularly in the vulnerable population of preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units.

Alterations in immune responses and intestinal secretory state are among features commonly observed in the maternal separation (MS) rat model of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This study examined whether perinatal maternal introduction of probiotics influences plasma immune markers and ileal mucin-2 (MUC2) gene expression in rat offspring exposed to neonatal maternal separation (MS, 3 h/day, postnatal days (PND) 2-14) and/or subsequently to acute restraint stress in adulthood (AS, 30 min/day, PND 83-85). Data analysis indicated that stress protocols did not affect plasma tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), interferon gamma (IFN-¿) and interleukin (IL)-6 levels in young offspring (PND 24) born to the vehicle-treated dams. Maternal probiotic intervention was associated with significantly decreased IFN-¿ levels in young offspring compared with non-probiotic offspring (P=0.05). It also induced a significant increase in IL-6 levels in MS pups (P=0.05). Exposure of both non-MS and MS offspring to AS induced a significant increase in haptoglobin levels compared to controls (P=0.05), whereas all offspring born to the probiotic-treated dams, irrespective of stress treatment conditions, exhibited significantly decreased haptoglobin levels to well below the control levels (P=0.05). MS and/or AS did not affect ileal expression of MUC2 in offspring born to the non-probiotic treated dams. While maternal probiotic intake significantly downregulated ileal gene expression of MUC2 in MS male young offspring, it was associated with significantly upregulated MUC2 mRNA expression in MS or AS adult male offspring. These findings suggest that maternal probiotic intervention may exert long-lasting anti-inflammatory effects and impact gut outcomes in offspring at increased risk of dysfunctional gut.

Both disgust and disease-related images appear able to induce an innate immune response but it is unclear whether these effects are independent or rely upon a common shared factor (e.g., disgust or disease-related cognitions). In this study we directly compared these two inductions using specifically generated sets of images. One set was disease-related but evoked little disgust, while the other set was disgust evoking but with less disease-relatedness. These two image sets were then compared to a third set, a negative control condition. Using a wholly within-subject design, participants viewed one image set per week, and provided saliva samples, before and after each viewing occasion, which were later analyzed for innate immune markers. We found that both the disease related and disgust images, relative to the negative control images, were not able to generate an innate immune response. However, secondary analyses revealed innate immune responses in participants with greater propensity to feel disgust following exposure to disease-related and disgusting images. These findings suggest that disgust images relatively free of disease-related themes, and disease-related images relatively free of disgust may be suboptimal cues for generating an innate immune response. Not only may this explain why disgust propensity mediates these effects, it may also imply a common pathway.

Fertility rates have been declining worldwide, with a growing number of young women suffering from infertility. Infectious and inflammatory diseases are important causes of infertility, and recent evidence points to the critical role of the early life microbial environment in developmental programming of adult reproductive fitness. Our laboratory and others have demonstrated that acute exposure to an immunological challenge early in life has a profound and prolonged impact on male and female reproductive development. This review presents evidence that perinatal exposure to immunological challenge by a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), acts at all levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, resulting in long lasting changes in reproductive function, suggesting that disposition to infertility may begin early in life © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Exposure to early life physiological stressors, such as infection, is thought to contribute to the onset of psychopathology in adulthood. In animal models, injections of the bacterial immune challenge, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), during the neonatal period has been shown to alter both neuroendocrine function and behavioural pain responses in adulthood. Interestingly, recent evidence suggests a role for the lateral hypothalamic peptide orexin in stress and nociceptive processing. However, whether neonatal LPS exposure affects the reactivity of the orexin system to formalin-induced inflammatory pain in later life remains to be determined. Male Wistar rats (n=13) were exposed to either LPS or saline (0.05mg/kg, i.p) on postnatal days (PND) 3 and 5. On PND 80-97, all rats were exposed to a subcutaneous hindpaw injection of 2.25% formalin. Following behavioural testing, animals were perfused and brains processed for Fos-protein and orexin immunohistochemistry. Rats treated with LPS during the neonatal period exhibited decreased licking behaviours during the interphase of the formalin test, the period typically associated with the active inhibition of pain, and increased grooming responses to formalin in adulthood. Interestingly, these behavioural changes were accompanied by an increase in the percentage of Fos-positive orexin cells in the dorsomedial and perifornical hypothalamus in LPS-exposed animals. Similar increases in Fos-protein were also observed in stress and pain sensitive brain regions that receive orexinergic inputs. These findings highlight a potential role for orexin in the behavioural responses to pain and provide further evidence that early life stress can prime the circuitry responsible for these responses in adulthood.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a scalp-recorded electrical potential that occurs in humans in response to an auditory stimulus that defies previously established patterns of regularity. MMN amplitude is reduced in people with schizophrenia. In this study, we aimed to develop a robust and replicable rat model of MMN, as a platform for a more thorough understanding of the neurobiology underlying MMN. One of the major concerns for animal models of MMN is whether the rodent brain is capable of producing a human-like MMN, which is not a consequence of neural adaptation to repetitive stimuli. We therefore tested several methods that have been used to control for adaptation and differential exogenous responses to stimuli within the oddball paradigm. Epidural electroencephalographic electrodes were surgically implanted over different cortical locations in adult rats. Encephalographic data were recorded using wireless telemetry while the freely-moving rats were presented with auditory oddball stimuli to assess mismatch responses. Three control sequences were utilized: the flip-flop control was used to control for differential responses to the physical characteristics of standards and deviants; the many standards control was used to control for differential adaptation, as was the cascade control. Both adaptation and adaptation-independent deviance detection were observed for high frequency (pitch), but not low frequency deviants. In addition, the many standards control method was found to be the optimal method for observing both adaptation effects and adaptation-independent mismatch responses in rats. Inconclusive results arose from the cascade control design as it is not yet clear whether rats can encode the complex pattern present in the control sequence. These data contribute to a growing body of evidence supporting the hypothesis that rat brain is indeed capable of exhibiting human-like MMN, and that the rat model is a viable platform for the further investigation of the MMN and its associated neurobiology.

Animal and human studies have demonstrated that early pain experiences can produce alterations in the nociceptive systems later in life including increased sensitivity to mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. However, less is known about the impact of neonatal immune challenge on future responses to noxious stimuli and the reactivity of neural substrates involved in analgesia. Here we demonstrate that rats exposed to Lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 0.05 mg/kg IP, Salmonella enteritidis) during postnatal day (PND) 3 and 5 displayed enhanced formalin-induced flinching but not licking following formalin injection at PND 22. This LPS-induced hyperalgesia was accompanied by distinct recruitment of supraspinal regions involved in analgesia as indicated by significantly attenuated Fos-protein induction in the rostral dorsal periaqueductal grey (DPAG) as well as rostral and caudal axes of the ventrolateral PAG (VLPAG). Formalin injections were associated with increased Fos-protein labelling in lateral habenula (LHb) as compared to medial habenula (MHb), however the intensity of this labelling did not differ as a result of neonatal immune challenge. These data highlight the importance of neonatal immune priming in programming inflammatory pain sensitivity later in development and highlight the PAG as a possible mediator of this process. © 2014 Zouikr et al.