Establishment and evaluation of a mouse model of affective disorder combined with atherosclerosis

Objective:To establish a mouse model of affective disorder complicated with atherosclerosis(AS)by high fat feeding and chronic mild unpredictable stimulation(CUMS),and to provide an animal model for the later study of the prevention and treatment of affective disorder complicated with atherosclerosis by traditional Chinese medicine.Methods:10 C57BL/6J mice were used as blank group,and 20 ApoE-/-mice were randomly divided into AS group and AS+CUMS group.After one week of adaptive feeding,except for the blank group,the other two groups were fed with high fat diet.Meanwhile,the AS+CUMS group was given chronic unpredictable mild stress.The model was evaluated after 16 weeks of modeling.During the experiment,the body weight,food intake,excitability,hair color and other general morphology of mice in each group were observed and recorded.Behavioral indexes(Sucrose preference tests and Open Field test)were detected in each group.The levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT)and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA)axis hormones,including adrenocorticotropin(ACTH)and corticosterone(CORT),were detected by ELISA.Serum lipid levels,including total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)and high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),were detected by ELISA.HE staining was used to observe the pathological condition of aorta.Results:Compared with blank group,the excitability and food intake of AS+CUMS group were significantly decreased.There were no significant differences in sugar water consumption and activity capacity of mice in AS group,while sugar water consumption and activity capacity of mice in AS+CUMS group were significantly decreased(P<0.01).The serum 5-HT levels in AS group and AS+CUMS group were decreased,and the levels of ACTH and CORT in AS+CUMS group were significantly decreased(P<0.01),and the levels of ACTH and CORT in AS+CUMS group were significantly increased(P<0.01).The serum TC,TG and LDL-C levels of mice in AS group and AS+CUMS group were significantly increased(P<0.01),while the HDL-C level of mice in both groups was significantly decreased(P<0.01).HE staining results showed that the area and degree of plaques in the active vascular lumen of AS group and AS+CUMS group were larger and heavier.Conclusion:High fat feeding combined with CUMS was successful in establishing a mouse model of emotional disorder combined with atherosclerosis.