2025/07/01 by Loanne Valéria Xavier Bruce de Souza, Larissa Nunes de Oliveira, Bruna Patrícia Dutra Costa +3 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · #Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior #Reproductive biology and impacts on aquatic species #Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
paper · doi:10.1177/02698811251350269
openalex publication_date 2025/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
BACKGROUND: Anxiety is a normal emotion representing a reaction to potential danger, whereas fear can be defined as a reaction to real, explicit danger. Anxiety-like behavior in animal models has been associated with differences in the serotonergic system. AIMS: To understand the roles of the 5-HT1A receptor in zebrafish anxiety-like behavior and sociality. METHODS: Adult zebrafish were treated with 8-OH-DPAT and subjected to the phototaxis (light-dark preference) assay, the novel tank test (NTT), or the social preference test. Separate cohorts were treated with increasing doses of 8-OH-DPAT, while 5-HT1A receptors were blocked with a silent dose of WAY 100635. RESULTS: 8-OH-DPAT (0.3 mg/kg) decreased anxiety-like behavior in the NTT, but increased it in the phototaxis (light-dark preference) assay, both considered assays for anxiety-like behavior for this species. The same dose decreased social approach in both the social investigation and social novelty phases of the social preference test. Blocking the 5-HT1A receptor with WAY 100635 (0.01 mg/kg) shifted the dose-response curve (0.03-3 mg/kg) for the NTT rightward. CONCLUSIONS: These effects suggest a participation of the 5-HT1A heteroreceptors in zebrafish anxiety and social preference, modulating anxiety in a test-dependent way and decreasing sociality. Thus, the study of this receptor is important for a better understanding of anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish and its relationship with similar phenomena in vertebrates.