caa a22 4500 475792866 CHVBK 20180406123715.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20001201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1023/A:1011123208674 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1023/A:1011123208674 Overcrowding Induces Anxiety and Causes Loss of Serotonin 5HT-1a Receptors in Rats [Elektronische Daten] [Willie Daniels, Charmaine Pietersen, Machteld Carstens, Santy Daya, Dan Stein] Unfavorable conditions under which children grow up may contribute significantly to the development of psychiatric abnormalities in adult life. We studied the effects of overcrowding at an early age and how it may result in anxiety later in life. Sprague-Dawley rats were housed 10 animals per cage, from birth until 4 weeks post-weaning. Rats housed 3 per cage served as controls. The Elevated Plus maze was used to determine their anxious behavior. Thereafter, the serotonergic system in the hippocampus was investigated. Overcrowded rats were significantly more anxious than controls. The number of 5HT-la receptors in the hippocampus decreased significantly and their affinity for the ligand, OH-DPAT, increased significantly. There was no significant difference in the hippocampal levels of serotonin between overcrowded rats and controls. Our study shows that overcrowding during childhood can result in anxious behavior and that the serotonergic system appears to play a role in its manifestation. Plenum Publishing Corporation, 2000 Overcrowding nationallicence behavior nationallicence anxiety nationallicence serotonin nationallicence hippocampus rats nationallicence Daniels Willie Department of Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut Pietersen Charmaine Department of Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut Carstens Machteld Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut Daya Santy School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa aut Stein Dan Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut Metabolic Brain Disease Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 15/4(2000-12-01), 287-295 0885-7490 15:4<287 2000 15 11011 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011123208674 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011123208674 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Daniels Willie Department of Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pietersen Charmaine Department of Medical Physiology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Carstens Machteld Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Daya Santy School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Stein Dan Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, Parow, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Metabolic Brain Disease Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 15/4(2000-12-01), 287-295 0885-7490 15:4<287 2000 15 11011 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer