Depression Model
Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness and a leading cause of disability and death. The lack of clarity on the specific cause of depression and the low efficacy, slow onset of action and side effects of antidepressants have made it urgent to elucidate the pathogenesis of depression and to find novel and efficient antidepressants.
Our company creatively combines common models of depression with the latest methods of behaviorally validated behavioral measures and is committed to providing clients with reasonable and reliable models of depression.
Introduction of Depression
Depression is a psychiatric disease caused by mood disorders. It is usually manifested by low mood, lack of interest, guilt and delayed behavior, accompanied by symptoms such as sleep disturbances, weight loss, and suicidal tendencies in severe cases, impairing the normal life and work of the individual. The causes of depression are often complex, with genetic, social and personal factors that may be involved in the development of depression. Researchers have made some progress in brain function and structure through a number of non-invasive means, yet these studies have been limited in understanding the pathogenesis of depression. Animal models of depression provide good research tools in helping us to better study its pathogenesis and drug development.
Fig. 1 Preclinical approaches to modelling aspects of depression in rodents. (Gururajan, 2019)
The One-stop Services for Depression Model We Provide
- Model animal selection: rats or mice.
- Provide a variety of mold making methods.
Ideal animal models provide an opportunity to understand the molecular, genetic, and epigenetic factors that can lead to depression. Our company is committed to providing our clients with the best and most comprehensive animal models of depression.
The following table describes the different modeling methods we offer for animal models of depression.
| Models | Description |
|---|---|
| Drug-induced animal models | Risperdal induction model, Glucocorticoid-induced model |
| Despair model | Forced swimming experiments in mice can cause animals to exhibit a state of "behavioral despair" typical of floating immobility, and can be widely used in the screening and evaluation of antidepressants. |
| Acquired helplessness model | Rodents were exposed to inescapable stress (foot click) stimuli, and after several experiments, the animals showed sluggishness in escape as well as passive acceptance, mainly simulating the despair symptoms of depression. |
| Chronic mildly unpredictable stress model | Several different stress stimuli were applied sequentially and randomly throughout the experiment so that the animals could not anticipate the occurrence of the stimuli, which eventually led to depressive behavior. |
| Olfactory bulb removal model | Removal of the olfactory bulb in rodents triggers structural and neurotransmitter changes in the brain that cause behavioral changes similar to depression, such as decreased learning memory, decreased avoidance response, and increased stress response. |
| Mother-infant separation model | Separating young mice or rats from their mothers prior to weaning and feeding them separately leads to depressive behavior in the animals. |
| Brain stimulation model | Electrodes were buried into the reward area of the rat brain and trained to step on the rod for self-stimulation, and the effect of the drug was observed by the number of step frequency and threshold current intensity. |
- We select reasonable behavioral testing methods for our clients to assess the reliability of the model.
Animal models of mood disorders are usually evaluated by face validity, structural validity and predictive validity. Our company offers a variety of validated tests for the evaluation of animal models of depression, our evaluation methods include but are not limited to the following.
- Forced swimming test
- Tail suspension test
- Sucrose preference test
- Novelty-suppressed feeding test
Why Choose Us
- Extensive expertise.
- Experienced professional team.
- Reliable quality guarantee.
Our company is committed to combining our specialized experimental platform and extensive scientific knowledge to jointly provide effective research models for the development of the field of neuroscience. If you are interested, please contact us and describe your specific research, and we will be happy to assist you.
Reference
- Gururajan, A.; et al. The future of rodent models in depression research. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2019, 20(11): 686-701.