Several neuropharmacological actions of cannabidiol (CBD) due to the modulation of the endocannabinoid system as well as direct serotonergic and gamma-aminobutyric acidergic actions have recently been identified. The current study aimed to reveal the effect of a long-term CBD treatment in the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression. Adult male Wistar rats (n = 24) were exposed to various stressors on a daily basis in order to induce anhedonia and anxiety-like behaviors. CBD (10 mg/kg body weight) was administered by daily intraperitoneal injections for 28 days (n = 12). The effects of the treatment were assessed on body weight, sucrose preference, and exploratory and anxiety-related behavior in the open field (OF) and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Hair corticosterone was also assayed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. At the end of the experiment, CBD-treated rats showed a higher rate of body weight gain (5.94% vs. 0.67%) and sucrose preference compared to controls. A significant increase in vertical exploration and a trend of increase in distance traveled in the OF test were observed in the CBD-treated group compared to the vehicle-treated group. The EPM test did not reveal any differences between the groups. Hair corticosterone levels increased in the CBD-treated group, while they decreased in controls compared to baseline (+36.01% vs. −45.91%). In conclusion, CBD exerted a prohedonic effect in rats subjected to CUMS, demonstrated by the increased sucrose preference after three weeks of treatment. The reversal of the effect of CUMS on hair corticosterone concentrations might also point toward an anxiolytic or antidepressant-like effect of CBD, but this needs further confirmation.

Estrogen is one of the most important female sex hormones, and is indispensable for reproduction. However, its role is much wider. Among others, due to its neuroprotective effects, estrogen protects the brain against dementia and complications of traumatic injury. Previously, it was used mainly as a therapeutic option for influencing the menstrual cycle and treating menopausal symptoms. Unfortunately, hormone replacement therapy might be associated with detrimental side effects, such as increased risk of stroke and breast cancer, raising concerns about its safety. Thus, tissue-selective and non-classical estrogen analogues have become the focus of interest. Here, we review the current knowledge about estrogen effects in a broader sense, and the possibility of using selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs), selective estrogen-receptor downregulators (SERDs), phytoestrogens, and activators of non-genomic estrogen-like signaling (ANGELS) molecules as treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. Approximately 50% of AD patients show anxiety and depressive symptoms, which may contribute to cognitive decline. We aimed to investigate whether the triple-transgenic mouse (3xTg-AD) is a good preclinical model of this co-morbidity. The characteristic histological hallmarks are known to appear around 6-month; thus, 4- and 8-month-old male mice were compared with age-matched controls. A behavioral test battery was used to examine anxiety- (open field (OF), elevated plus maze, light-dark box, novelty suppressed feeding, and social interaction (SI) tests), and depression-like symptoms (forced swim test, tail suspension test, sucrose preference test, splash test, and learned helplessness) as well as the cognitive decline (Morris water maze (MWM) and social discrimination (SD) tests). Acetylcholinesterase histochemistry visualized cholinergic fibers in the cortex. Dexamethasone-test evaluated the glucocorticoid non-suppression. In the MWM, the 3xTg-AD mice found the platform later than controls in the 8-month-old cohort. The SD abilities of the 3xTg-AD mice were missing at both ages. In OF, both age groups of 3xTg-AD mice moved significantly less than the controls. During SI, 8-month-old 3xTg-AD animals spent less time with friendly social behavior than the controls. In the splash test, 3xTg-AD mice groomed themselves significantly less than controls of both ages. Cortical fiber density was lower in 8-month-old 3xTg-AD mice compared to the control. Dexamethasone non-suppression was detectable in the 4-month-old group. All in all, some anxiety- and depressive-like symptoms were present in 3xTg-AD mice. Although this strain was not generally more anxious or depressed, some aspects of comorbidity might be studied in selected tests, which may help to develop new possible treatments.

The striatum is an essential component of the basal ganglia that is involved in motor control, action selection and motor learning. The pathophysiological changes of the striatum are present in several neurological and psychiatric disorder including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The striatal cholinergic neurons are the main regulators of striatal microcircuitry. It has been demonstrated that estrogen exerts various effects on neuronal functions in dopaminergic and medium spiny neurons (MSN), however little is known about how the activity of cholinergic interneurons are influenced by estrogens. In this study we examined the acute effect of 17β-estradiol on the function of striatal cholinergic neurons in adult mice in vitro. We also tested the effect of estrus cycle and sex on the spontaneous activity of cholinergic interneurons in the striatum. Our RNAscope experiments showed that ERα, ERβ, and GPER1 receptor mRNAs are expressed in some striatal cholinergic neurons at a very low level. In cell-attached patch clamp experiments, we found that a high dose of 17β-estradiol (100 nM) affected the spontaneous firing rate of these neurons only in old males. Our findings did not demonstrate any acute effect of a low concentration of 17β-estradiol (100 pM) or show any association of estrus cycle or sex with the activity of striatal cholinergic neurons. Although estrogen did not induce changes in the intrinsic properties of neurons, indirect effects via modulation of the synaptic inputs of striatal cholinergic interneurons cannot be excluded.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, being highly prevalent in elderly women. The advanced progression may be due to decreased hormone synthesis during post-menopause as estradiol and progesterone both have neuroprotective potentials. We aimed to confirm that female hormone depletion aggravates the progression of dementia in a triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (3xTg-AD). As pathological hallmarks are known to appear in 6-month-old animals, we expected to see disease-like changes in the 4-month-old 3xTg-AD mice only after hormone depletion. Three-month-old female 3xTg-AD mice were compared with their age-matched controls. As a menopause model, ovaries were removed (OVX or Sham surgery). After 1-month recovery, the body composition of the animals was measured by an MRI scan. The cognitive and anxiety parameters were evaluated by different behavioral tests, modeling different aspects (Y-maze, Morris water maze, open-field, social discrimination, elevated plus maze, light–dark box, fox odor, operant conditioning, and conditioned fear test). At the end of the experiment, uterus was collected, amyloid-β accumulation, and the cholinergic system in the brain was examined by immunohistochemistry. The uterus weight decreased, and the body weight increased significantly in the OVX animals. The MRI data showed that the body weight change can be due to fat accumulation. Moreover, OVX increased anxiety in control, but decreased in 3xTg-AD animals, the later genotype being more anxious by default based on the anxiety z-score. In general, 3xTg-AD mice moved less. In relation to cognition, neither the 3xTg-AD genotype nor OVX surgery impaired learning and memory in general. Despite no progression of dementia-like behavior after OVX, at the histological level, OVX aggravated the amyloid-β plaque deposition in the basolateral amygdala and induced early cholinergic neuronal fiber loss in the somatosensory cortex of the transgenic animals. We confirmed that OVX induced menopausal symptoms. Removal of the sexual steroids aggravated the appearance of AD-related alterations in the brain without significantly affecting the behavior. Thus, the OVX in young, 3-month-old 3xTg-AD mice might be a suitable model for testing the effect of new treatment options on structural changes; however, to reveal any beneficial effect on behavior, a later time point might be needed.