A Chronic Immobilization Stress Protocol for Inducing Depression-Like Behavior in Mice

Abstract

Depression is not yet fully understood, but various causative factors have been reported. Recently, the prevalence of depression has increased. However, therapeutic treatments for depression or research on depression is scarce. Thus, in the present paper, we propose a mouse model of depression induced by movement restriction. Chronic mild stress (CMS) is a well-known technique to induce depressive-like behavior. However, it necessitates a complex procedure consisting of a combination of various mild stresses. In contrast, chronic immobilization stress (CIS) is a readily accessible chronic stress model, modified from a restraint model that induces depressive behavior by restricting movement using a restrainer for a certain period. To evaluate the depressive-like behaviors, the sucrose preference test (SPT), the tail suspension test (TST), and the ELISA assay to measure stress marker corticosterone levels are combined in the present experiment. The described protocols illustrate the induction of CIS and evaluation of the changes in behavior and physiological factors for the validation of depression.