MIPT Scientists collaborated with colleagues from Russia and Brazilian to analyze the effects of alcohol on zebrafish based on gender. It turns out that male zebrafish in alcohol excitation is more aggressive than females.
This scientific work is published in the journal Frontiers of Neuroendocrinology. Preclinical studies of anesthesiology are most commonly performed in rodents, but such work is also performed in zebrafish. Fish is the second most commonly used laboratory species in biomedical research (second only to mice).
Neuroscientists believe they are good models for reproducing various processes in the brain, including the pharmacological effects of various psychotropic drugs on nervous system , because biochemical changes in humans and fish are often very similar. The nature of alcohol dependence in both men and women has significant differences in performance and treatment, so scientists decided to check whether gender differences affect zebrafish’s behavior in alcohol.
"Our work is dedicated to determining the gender specificity of zebrafish for further pharmacological and physiological studies. For example, the response of male and female fish to chronic and acute alcohol exposure is given. Studies show that fish behavior varies by gender. Research.
Therefore, like rodents, zebrafish exhibits significant gender differences in alcohol-related responses. For example, it turns out that females of these fish are exposed to 0.5% sharply Exploring new objects is faster when in alcohol and is more sensitive to the behavioral effects of long-term use of ethanol (e.g. clustering in groups) than males.
Of course, in this case, it is impossible to directly compare with humans, but all animal models are somewhat close to us. Many physiological processes in animal models show similar trends in humans, which helps to select treatments based on preclinical studies.
"What's novel about our study is that it raises the question of gender differences. In recent years, rather positive research has been conducted without regard to gender, as it is believed that fish are not very different than humans and rodents, for example, females do not have cycles, but recent publications and articles have shown that there are other differences in zebrafish at the genome and transcription group levels, which is another evidence that requires a difference in the study. Otherwise, this may confuse statistical samples and alter the interpretation of the results,” stressed Elena Petersen, head of the molecular biology and the Neurobiological Problems and Biological Screening Laboratory at the Moscow Institute of Physical Technology.
Given the rapidly growing role of zebrafish in biomedical research and its potential for efficient drug screening, a better understanding of gender differences helps to simulate alcohol -related diseases and study the effects of alcohol on the brain and behavior. This strategy may be particularly promising for studying the neural effects of alcohol, and significant gender differences have been reported in clinical practice.
