1. Pharmacol Rep. 2018 Mar 8;70(5):847-852. doi: 10.1016/j.pharep.2018.03.001.

[Epub
ahead of print]

Involvement of hippocampal angiotensin 1 receptors in anxiety-like behaviour of

olfactory bulbectomized rats.

Tashev R(1), Ivanova M(2).

Author information:
(1)Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria;
Department of Behaviour Neurobiology, Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria. Electronic address: msvelikova@yahoo.com.
(2)Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Medical University, Varna,
Bulgaria. Electronic address: margarita.stefanova@mu-varna.bg.

BACKGROUND: Accumulated evidence suggests that the enhanced brain angiotensin II

(Ang II) activity is associated with stress and anxiety. More recent reports
demonstrated that Ang II function is elevated in depression, but the role of
hippocampal Ang II and its receptors in this state is not well established. The
present study investigated the effects of Ang II and losartan (a selective Аng II
type 1 receptor antagonist) microinjected into the hippocampal CA1 area on the
anxiety-like behavior in rats with a model of depression.
METHODS: The bilateral olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) was used as a model of
depression. The stereotaxic technique was used for bilaterally (right and left)
implantation of guide cannulas into CA1 hippocampal area of the OBX rats. The
anxiety state of OBX rats was studied using the elevated plus-maze test.
RESULTS: Тhe bilateral infusion of Ang II (0.5 μg) did not change the
anxiety-like behavior of OBX rats, while losartan (100 μg) showed an
anxiolytic-like behavior, by increasing the number and time of open arms entries,
the ratio of open/total entries and open/total time and decreasing the number and
time of closed arm entries.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that the inhibition of hippocampal AT1
receptors reduces the anxiety in OBX rats, which indicates involvement of AT1
receptors in the mechanisms of OBX-induced anxiety.

Copyright © 2018 Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences. Published

by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.pharep.2018.03.001
PMID: 30086518