It has been suggested that
reserpine-induced
oral dyskinesia in rats may provide a new animal model of
tardive dyskinesia. Both cognitive deficits and gender have been associated with the development of
tardive dyskinesia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of
reserpine administration on the development of
orofacial dyskinesia and on plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (DAT-an animal model of associative learning) in male and female mice. Male and female mice received 1.0 mg/kg
reserpine or saline subcutaneously on day 1. On days 3, 6 and 8, the frequency of vacuous chewing movements (VCM) was quantified. On day 6, the DAT conditioning was performed, in a modified elevated plus-maze. In one of the enclosed arms, the animals received aversive stimulation (light and noise). On day 8, a test session was performed and the time spent by the animals in each of the enclosed arms was recorded. Our results showed that
reserpine-treated male and female mice presented significantly higher VCM when compared with respective control groups in all observation days. On day 6,
reserpine-treated female mice presented significantly higher VCM when compared with male mice injected with this
drug. The DAT test performed on day 8 showed that the time spent in the aversive arm by saline-treated mice was significantly lower than the time spent in the non-aversive arm. This difference was not observed for
reserpine-treated mice. Our results demonstrate the development of
reserpine-induced
oral dyskinesia in both male and female mice. While this
oral dyskinesia is accompanied by a cognitive deficit in both genders, female mice tended to have more severe
oral dyskinesia. It is suggested that
reserpine-induced
oral dyskinesia may provide a quick, simple and efficient mouse model of
tardive dyskinesia.