Research reportBehavior and the cholinergic parameters in olfactory bulbectomized female rodents: Difference between rats and mice

- Olfactory bulbectomy in rats and mice is a known model of depression and neurodegeneration.
- We studied alterations of behavior and cholinergic system in bulbectomized rats and mice.
- We found moderate signs of depressive-like behavior and impaired cognitive functions in bulbectomized rats and mice.
- In rats, olfactory bulbectomy did not influence the cholinergic system.
- In mice, olfactory bulbectomy induced a loss of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum-diagonal band.

Olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) in rodents induces a wide spectrum of functional disturbances, including behavioral, neurochemical, and neuromorphological alterations. We have examined the effects of OBX on behavior and the parameters of the cholinergic system in female rats and mice. In rats, OBX resulted in the appearance of some depressive-like behavioral marks, such as the decreased sucrose consumption, hyperactivity, impaired short-term memory and anxiety-like behavioral features, such as shortened presence in the center of the open field arena or open arms of the elevated plus-maze and an enhancement of avoidance behavior. These behavioral abnormalities could be associated with disturbances in hippocampal function, this suggestion being supported by the presence of cellular changes in this brain structure. No effect of OBX on the number of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum-diagonal band as well as on the acetylcholine content and acetylcholinesterase activity in the septum, hippocampus, and neocortex could be detected. In contrast, in mice, OBX impaired spontaneous alternation behavior and decreased the number of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum-diagonal band. These data demonstrate that rats and mice differently respond to OBX, in particular, OBX does not significantly affect the cholinergic system in rats.