Stress is a major risk factor for a range of psychopathologies. However, stress does not affect everyone equally: in the face of sustained adversity, some people develop depression symptoms while others adapt and remain resilient. Identifying risk factors and biomarkers for vulnerability to developing stress-induced depression in order to identify individual susceptibility before stress exposure has been a major challenge.
Scientists have now shown that social organization can affect differential vulnerability to chronic stress and underscored brain energy metabolism as a predictive biomarker for social status and susceptibility to stress-induced depression. The work is published in Current Biology.
Previous studies have repeatedly shown that following exposure to defeat experiences, some mice show signs of depression such as avoiding social contact, while other mice behave as unstressed, retaining normal social interests. But most of this work identified vulnerability in the mice based on symptoms developed after stress exposure, not before.
The researchers were intrigued by the fact that differential vulnerability to stress is observed in mice known as C57BL/6J, which are genetically identical. The mice in the study had also been exposed to the same housing and living conditions to exclude the influence genetic factors or issues related to early life trauma.
Since mice typically live in groups of four per cage, the scientists reasoned that the hierarchical order established within the homecage might be related to the vulnerability to stress. By giving mice from the same homecage competitive challenges, the researchers could identify the dominant and the subordinate animals in each group. Then, following chronic stress exposure, they found that dominant animals are the ones that display a susceptibility to stress by showing strong social avoidance. On the other hand, subordinate mice behaved like the non-stressed ones, showing resilience.
Subsequently, the scientists applied an in vivo neuroimaging technique known as proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy that measures metabolite levels in the brain. They focused on two brain regions: the nucleus accumbens, which is involved in motivation and reward, and the medial prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning.
The neuroimaging showed that the metabolic profile of the nucleus accumbens relates to social status and vulnerability to stress. More precisely, non-stressed, subordinate individuals showed lower levels of metabolites related to energy metabolism (glutamate, phosphocreatine, total creatine, N-acetylaspartate, and taurine) in the nucleus accumbens than dominant mice. But after exposure to chronic stress, the metabolite levels of energy-related metabolites were increased in subordinate, but not in dominant mice.
The study is the first to non-invasively identify risk factors and biomarkers that predict social status and stress-induced depression-like behavior. On an experimental level, the findings can now help make progress on investigating of mechanisms related to vulnerability and resilience to stress, as it will help stratifying individuals in longitudinal studies. On a clinical level, the study shows that energy metabolism in the nucleus accumbens can be a potential biomarker for stress vulnerability. And the study also has multiple implications on a societal level, given the ubiquitous nature of hierarchies in our society.
"Our findings reinforce the view that losing status is more pertinent to depression than social subordination," says senior author. "In the future, it will be important to study whether social status can also predict depression or anxiety when individuals are chronically exposed to stressors of a non-social nature".
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/how-social-rank-can-trigger-vulnerability-to-stres/
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(17)30729-7
How social rank can trigger vulnerability to stress
- 3,232 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
TB blood test which could d…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Propionate supplementation…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Role of human Kallistatin i…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Addressing both flu and COV…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
How the brain senses body p…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Mar
Other Top Stories
Omega-3 may block psychosis years later
Read more
A Liquid-to-Solid Phase Transition of the ALS Protein FUS Accelerat…
Read more
Sleep apnea and brain damage
Read more
PTSD could be prevented by blocking memory consolidation pathway!
Read more
Body fat hormone leptin influences runner's high
Read more
Protocols
All-optical presynaptic pla…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
Epigenomic tomography for p…
By newseditor
Posted 20 Mar
A mouse DRG genetic toolkit…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
An optogenetic method for t…
By newseditor
Posted 13 Mar
Profiling native pulmonary…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Mar
Publications
Integrated plasma proteomic…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
APP antisense oligonucleoti…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Targeting Erbin-mitochondri…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Regulation of Zbp1 by miR-9…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Pain-free oral delivery of…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Mar
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar