Anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in GNL/SMP30 knockout mice with hereditary defect in vitamin C biosynthesize.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25560047
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Keio University (2015); Ochanomizu University (2013-2014)
• Principal Investigator: Koizumi-Matsuda Miwako (小泉美和子) 慶應義塾大学, 医学部, 特任助教 (30373301)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Suzuki Emiko お茶の水女子大学, 大学院人間文化創成科学研究科, 教授 (80154524)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ビタミンＣ / 不安症 / うつ病 / 成育環境 / ストレス脆弱性 / セロトニン神経

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We studied male and female senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30)/ gluconolactonase (GNL) knockout (KO) mice, totally lacks the ability to synthesize vitamin C similar to a comparable deficit seen in humans, in several behavioral paradigms designed to evaluate anxiety and depression in terms of the impact vitamin C has on mental health. Two environments were established based on hierarchical social relations of stable or unstable housing’s susceptibility to anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors.
Vitamin C deficiency developed anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. When comparing stable vs. unstable social conditions, results showed that males have a low tolerance for novel / inescapable events, whereas females are more vulnerable to habitual / inescapable situations. We found that socially unstable subjects showed significantly lower GSH levels than the stable group.
These results revealed a fact that vitamin C is important for preventing psychiatric disorders.

Free Research Field

栄養生理学　栄養生化学　神経行動科学