Sucrose preference test for measurement of stress-induced anhedonia in mice

  • Nat Protoc. 2018 Jul;13(7):1686-1698. doi: 10.1038/s41596-018-0011-z.
Meng-Ying Liu  1  2 ,  Chun-Yu Yin  1 ,  Li-Juan Zhu  1  3 ,  Xian-Hui Zhu  1 ,  Chu Xu  1 ,  Chun-Xia Luo  1 ,  Hongshan Chen  4  5  6 ,  Dong-Ya Zhu  7 ,  Qi-Gang Zhou  8
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
  • 2. Department of Pharmacy, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
  • 3. Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Diseases, MOE, Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
  • 4. Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular & Cerebrovascular Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
  • 5. Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
  • 6. Key Laboratory of Targeted Intervention of Cardiovascular Disease, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cardiovascular Disease Translational Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
  • 7. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
  • 8. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy College, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. [email protected].
PMID: 29988104 DOI: 10.1038/s41596-018-0011-z
Abstract

Anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure from rewarding or enjoyable activities and is a core symptom of depression in humans. Here, we describe a protocol for the measurement of anhedonia in mice, in which anhedonia is measured by a sucrose preference test (SPT) based on a two-bottle choice paradigm. A reduction in the sucrose preference ratio in experimental relative to control mice is indicative of anhedonia. To date, inconsistent and variable results have been reported following the use of the SPT by different groups, probably due to the use of different protocols and equipment. In this protocol, we describe how to set up a clearly defined apparatus for SPT and provide a detailed protocol to ensure greater consistency when carrying out SPT. This optimized protocol is highly sensitive, reliable, and adaptable for evaluation of chronic stress-related anhedonia, as well as morphine-induced dependence. The whole SPT, including adaptation, baseline measurement, and testing, takes 8 d.