02227nas a2200193 4500008004100000245011600041210006900157260002900226300001000255490000800265520152700273100001301800700001501813700001401828700001501842700001401857700001601871856014601887 2018 eng d00aImpaired pupillary control in “schizophrenia-like” WISKET rats. Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical.0 aImpaired pupillary control in schizophrenialike WISKET rats Auto bElsevierc2018 September a34-420 v2133 a

Patients with schizophrenia show impairments in autonomic regulation, including pupillomotor control. The aim of this study was to explore the changes of pupillary light reflex in a new substrain (WISKET) with several schizophrenia-like alterations.

Male WISKET rats housed individually (for four weeks) and treated with ketamine (for 3 × 5 days) after weaning and naive group-housed Wistar rats (controls) were involved in the study. The pupillary light reflex was studied in two series after sedation (diazepam) or anesthesia (chloral hydrate). Video recordings were evaluated with custom made video analyzer software.

Several significant changes were observed between the two groups: the initial and minimum pupil diameters were greater, the degree of the constriction was lower, and the flatness of the curve and the total duration of constriction were shorter in the sedated WISKET rats. No other pupillary parameters (latency, amplitude and redilation) showed significant alterations.

Chloral hydrate anesthesia prolonged the constriction and redilation processes compared to the sedated animals, and diminished the differences between the groups.

In conclusion, WISKET rats showed disturbances in the pupillary light reflex, suggesting a general shift of autonomic balance towards a sympathetic predominance. The results provide further evidence to support the validity of WISKET rats as a complex, chronic animal model of schizophrenia.

 

1 aBüki, A1 aKalmár, G1 aKekesi, G1 aBenedek, G1 aNyúl, LG1 aHorváth, G uhttps://inf.u-szeged.hu/en/publication/impaired-pupillary-control-in-schizophrenia-like-wisket-rats-autonomic-neuroscience-basic-and-clinical