Author:
Souza Adriana Jesus,Sharmin Dishary,Cook James M.,Guimarães Francisco S.,Gomes Felipe V.
Abstract
ABSTRACTAutism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by core behavioral symptoms in the domains of sociability, language/communication, and repetitive or stereotyped behaviors. Deficits in the prefrontal and hippocampal excitatory/inhibitory balance due to a functional loss of GABAergic interneurons are proposed to underlie these symptoms. Increasing the postsynaptic effects of GABA with compounds that selectively modulate GABAergic receptors could be a potential target for treating ASD symptoms. In addition, deficits in GABAergic interneurons have been linked to dopamine (DA) system dysregulation, and, despite conflicting evidence, abnormalities in the DA system activity may underly some ASD symptoms. Here, we investigated whether the positive allosteric modulator of α5-containing GABAAreceptors (α5-GABAARs) SH-053-2’F-R-CH3 (10 mg/kg) attenuates behavioral abnormalities in a rat model for autism based onin uteroVPA exposure. We also evaluated if animals exposed to VPAin uteropresent changes in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) DA system activity using in vivo electrophysiology and if SH-053-2’F-R-CH3 could attenuate these changes.In uteroVPA exposure caused male and female rats to present increased repetitive behavior (self-grooming) in early adolescence and deficits in social interaction in adulthood. Male, but not female VPA rats, also presented deficits in recognition memory as adults. SH-053-2’F-R-CH3 attenuated the impairments in sociability and cognitive function in male VPA-exposed rats without attenuating the decreased social interaction in females. Male and female adult VPA-exposed rats also showed an increased VTA DA neuron population activity, which was not changed by SH-053-2’F-R-CH3. Despite sex differences, our findings indicate α5-GABAARs positive allosteric modulators may effectively attenuate some core ASD symptoms.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cited by
1 articles.
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