OBJECTIVE: To explore whether sex difference exists in the performance in each arm of elevated plus maze (EPM) and GluR1 level in the hippocampus of female and male Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: Eleven male and 10 female SD rats were tested for 5 minutes in the EPM. These rats were decapitated 30 min after testing. The left and right hippocampus were dissected. Samples were stored at -80 degree for protein extracting. Western blot was used to detect the GluR1 levels in the hippocampus. RESULTS: Female rats exhibited less anxiety-like behaviors than male rats in the EPM (P<0.05).Female rats had lower GluR1 levels in total and left hippocampus than those of male rats (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Sex difference exists between female and male rats in the EPM and hippocampal GluR1.
Animals ; Anxiety ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Behavior, Animal ; Female ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; physiology ; Male ; Maze Learning ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, AMPA ; metabolism ; physiology ; Sex Characteristics