Comprehensive behavioral analysis and quantification of brain free amino acids of C57BL/6J congenic mice carrying the 1473G allele in tryptophan hydroxylase-2.

AIM: Tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2) is a rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin). Previous studies have reported that C1473G polymorphism of the murine Tph2 gene leads to decreased 5-HT levels in the brain and abnormal behavioral phenotypes, such as impaired anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. In this study, to confirm the effect of the C1473G polymorphism on mouse phenotypes, we conducted a comprehensive battery of behavioral tests and measured the amounts of brain free amino acids involved in the production of 5-HT.

METHODS: We obtained C57BL/6J congenic mice that were homozygous for the 1473G allele of Tph2 (1473G) and subjected them and their wild-type littermates (1473C) to a battery of behavioral tests. Using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we measured the amounts of free amino acids in the 5-HT and epinephrine synthetic/metabolic pathways in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and midbrain.

RESULTS: We failed to detect significant differences between genotypes in depression-like behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, social behaviors, sensorimotor gaiting, or learning and memory, while 1473G mice exhibited a nominally significant impairment in gait analysis, which failed to reach study-wide significance. In the HPLC analysis, there were no significant differences in the amounts of 5-HT, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and midbrain.

CONCLUSION: Our findings do not support the idea that congenic C57BL/6J mice carrying the 1473G allele may represent an animal model of mood disorder under normal conditions without stress.