A novel test procedure for antidepressants was designed in which a mouse is suspended by the tail from a lever, the movements of the animal being recorded. The total duration of the test (6 min) can be divided into periods of agitation and immobility. Several psychotropic drugs were studied: amphetamine, amitriptyline, atropine, desipramine, mianserin, nomifensine and viloxazine. Antidepressant drugs decrease the duration of immobility, as do psychostimulants and atropine. If coupled with measurement of locomotor activity in different conditions, the test can separate the locomotor stimulant doses from antidepressant doses. Diazepam increases the duration of immobility. The main advantages of this procedure are the use of a simple, objective test situation, the concordance of the results with the validated "behavioral despair" test from Porsolt and the sensitivity to a wide range of drug doses.

The tail suspension test: A new method for screening antidepressants in mice

A neurotrophic model for stress-related mood disorders.

Biological basis of the behavior of sick animals

National High Blood Pressure Education Program.

The tail suspension test as a model for assessing antidepressant activity: review of pharmacological and genetic studies in mice.

1. Mice when suspended by the tail will alternate between active attempts to escape and immobility. Immobility like that measured in the behavioral despair test is reduced by a wide variety of antidepressant agents. 2. The present paper describes a computerized version of this test (ITEMATIC-TST) which in addition to recording immobility measures the power of the movements. 3. Various tricyclic (amitriptyline, desipramine, imipramine), MAOI (clorgyline, moclobemide, nialamide, pargyline, toloxatone) and atypical antidepressants (bupropion, citalopram, indalpine, mianserin, nomifensine, viloxazine) were tested and compared with psychostimulants (d-amphetamine, caffeine), neuroleptics (chlorpromazine, haloperidol, sulpiride), anxiolytics (clobazam, diazepam) and agents acting on the cholinergic system (atropine, oxotremorine). 4. All antidepressants decreased the duration of immobility and most increased the power of movements. 5. The psychostimulants also decreased immobility but only amphetamine increased the power of movements. 6. Neuroleptics increased immobility without affecting the power of movements, whereas anxiolytics increased immobility but decreased the power of movements. 7. Atropine had a profile similar to antidepressants whereas oxotremorine tended to have opposite effects. 8. The results suggest that the automated test system with its two parameters is not only sensitive to antidepressants but could also be useful for generating activity profiles for different kinds of psychotropic agent.

The automated tail suspension test: A computerized device which differentiates psychotropic drugs

The above analysis of haemodynamic, behavioral, physiological and pharmacological factors concord in suggesting that the Tail Suspension Test is considerably less stressful to experimental animals than the traditional “behavioral despair” test. It should always be borne in mind, however, that any attempt to model depression in animals by definition does not render them happy. The aim is therefore to reduce the animal's discomfort to a minimum which is still compatible with the research goal, the discovery of new antidepressant agents. This important ethical consideration, together with the greater pharmacological sensitivity of the procedure, suggests that the Tail Suspension Test is a useful addition to the battery of behavioral tests available for evaluating antidepressant activity in animals.

The tail suspension test: ethical considerations.

Searching-Waiting Strategy: A Candidate for an Evolutionary Model of Depression?

In the tail suspension test (TST), the rat is suspended by the tail for 6 min during which the animal shows periods of agitation and immobility. The duration of the immobility is measured. Desipramine decreased the duration of immobility. The main advantages of this procedure are: the use of a simple, objective test situation; the concordance of the results (for desipramine) with the "behavioral despair" test described by Porsolt; the avoidance of the hypothermia induced by immersion in the Porsolt test.

Bernard Thierry

Papers

The tail suspension test: A new method for screening antidepressants in mice

The automated tail suspension test: A computerized device which differentiates psychotropic drugs

The tail suspension test: ethical considerations.

Searching-Waiting Strategy: A Candidate for an Evolutionary Model of Depression?

Adaptation of the tail suspension test to the rat