High pressure
liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been used to look for evidence of depressive behaviour in mice given an intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
Mice were injected with LPS and then subjected to two tests - a forced swim test and an examination of social interactions - by a team at the University of Illinois.
The team aimed to stimulate central expression of indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), a tryptophan-degrading enzyme known to mediate depressive behaviour.
Analysis with HPLC found that IDO expression was increased, along with depressive behaviour such as immobility during the swim test.
This is the first time that LPS has been shown to be sufficient to activate IDO in order to elicit such a response, the researchers write.
IDO is now suggested as a potential target in therapies for depression associated with inflammation.
The study is published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal distributed online and which focuses on topics relating to the behaviour of the central nervous system.
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