Role of genotype in brain dopamine metabolism and dopamine-dependent behavior of mice

Feeling Strained? Influence of Genetic Background on Depression-Related Behavior in Mice: A Review

“…Age-dependent variation in brainstem and forebrain DA have been reported between BALB/c and C57BL/ 6 strains (Daszuta et al 1981. In contrast, Skrinskaya et al (1992) did not find differences in nigrostriatal and mesolimbic DA or DOPAC in eight inbred strains (BALB/c, AKR/J, DBA/2, CBA, C57BL/6, DD, CC57Br and C3H/He), although HVA varied widely with strain and brain region. This was similar to the results of Shanks et al (1994) where frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens DA and DO-PAC did not vary between C57BL/6ByJ and BALB/ cByJ, although for HVA was higher in the frontal cortex of C57BL/6ByJ and lower in the nucleus accumbens in comparison with the BALB/cByJ.…”

“…These results are particularly interesting in light of the FST study by Nikulina et al (1991), which showed the D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 reduced immobility in CC57Br, C3H/He and CBA and particularly in C57BL/6, despite the hypolocomotor effect described by Skrinskaya et al (1992). The D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 increased immobility in all strains to a similar degree from controls.…”

“…As such, compounds that induce locomotor activity may provide a false positive result for an antidepressant-like profile, and likewise, compounds inhibiting locomotor activity may appear pro-depressant. Different strains exhibit phenotypic variability in basic motor ability as assessed by locomotor exploratory activity (Skrinskaya et al 1992;Logue et al 1997;Miner 1997;Brodkin et al 1998;David et al 2003), and also in other indictors of motor coordination such as rotarod ability (Brooks et al 2004;Jacobson and Cryan 2005) and gait abnormalities assessed by footprint analysis, acoustic startle amplitude and swimming speed (Brooks et al 2004). It is therefore possible that these may correlate with either baseline immobility in FST and TST test, or with antidepressant responses.…”

“…This difference was not explained by strain differences in caudate putamen or nucleus accumbens DA transporter (DAT) binding sites or affinity, as assessed with the selective DAT ligand [3H]GBR 12935, or by differences in D1 (SCH 23390) or D2 (epidepride) DA receptor hypolocomotor sensitivity in the two strains. Skrinskaya et al (1992) examined the influence of selective D1 and D2 DA receptor agonists SK&F 38393 and quinpirole, respectively, and the mixed D1/D2 receptor agonist, apomorphine on general locomotor activity of eight different strains. Hypolocomotor sensitivity to apomorphine was greatest in BALB/c, DBA/2 and A/He strains.…”

Influence of Age and Strain on Striatal Dopamine Loss in a Genetic Mouse Model of Lesch‐Nyhan Disease

“…However, the dopamine deficit has varied widely in the different studies from 20% to >60%. As basal ganglia dopamine content varies approximately twofold among different inbred strains of normal mice (Sanghera et al, 1990 ; Skrinskaya et al, 1992 ; Puglisi‐Allegra and Cabib, 1997), it is possible that the lower dopamine levels observed in the HPRT mutants reflect strain‐dependent variation rather than a pathologic effect from the HPRT gene mutation. This strain‐dependent variation among normal mouse strains has recently been recognized as a major confounding variable influencing the interpretation of the neurochemical, pharmacological, and behavioral changes in transgenic and knockout mice (Gerlai, 1996).…”