Can I use Tail suspension test to evaluate the antidepressant using Rat? As I saw that TST is mostly utilized in mice, but I am looking for an authenticated reference of the use of Rats (however very few papers I found) please help me regarding this?
No, you shouldn't use the tail suspension test in rats as they are too heavy to be supported by the tips of their tails, unlike mice. You are always recommended to lift rats by the base of the tail (i.e. near the body) and only for short periods of time (i.e. moving from one cage to another). I typically lift rats by the base of the tail and place onto my forearm, holding the base of the tail firmly to prevent the rat from jumping off but not bearing any weight on the tail. The tail suspension test involves leaving a mouse suspended by the tip of the tail for 5-6 minutes; doing this in a rat would cause much higher levels of stress and pain to the rat. This would most likely mask any antidepressant effect you may be looking for.
As Leonardo suggests, the forced swim test would be the standard test to use with rats in such studies. To complement the forced swim test you could also time the amount of time spent grooming in an open field test (spontaneous grooming) and in the splash test (induced grooming). Taken together, you should have a good idea of whether your treatment is having an antidepressant effect. Obviously do the open field and splash tests in advance of the forced swim test as you do not want the stress of the forced swim test to have an effect on other tasks.
No, you shouldn't use the tail suspension test in rats as they are too heavy to be supported by the tips of their tails, unlike mice. You are always recommended to lift rats by the base of the tail (i.e. near the body) and only for short periods of time (i.e. moving from one cage to another). I typically lift rats by the base of the tail and place onto my forearm, holding the base of the tail firmly to prevent the rat from jumping off but not bearing any weight on the tail. The tail suspension test involves leaving a mouse suspended by the tip of the tail for 5-6 minutes; doing this in a rat would cause much higher levels of stress and pain to the rat. This would most likely mask any antidepressant effect you may be looking for.
As Leonardo suggests, the forced swim test would be the standard test to use with rats in such studies. To complement the forced swim test you could also time the amount of time spent grooming in an open field test (spontaneous grooming) and in the splash test (induced grooming). Taken together, you should have a good idea of whether your treatment is having an antidepressant effect. Obviously do the open field and splash tests in advance of the forced swim test as you do not want the stress of the forced swim test to have an effect on other tasks.
Recently i attended a conference by a professional in that field, Rodríguez-Landa JF said that test is dangerous for rodents. There are a several studies that confirm it. Rats and mice could suffer a stroke, oxygen deprivation or microhemorrhage. I recommend to you...use another behavioral tests such as forced swim test or sucrose consumption.
Greetings.
I also agree with the above comments. The FST is widely used and accepted for this aim. Tail suspension does not work for rats.
No, you can not use the rat for the tail suspension test. The reason is that the mice tail is thinner and longer, and so more suitable for the test. Rats are more difficult to capture and handle, and more heavier than mice. Be careful with your rats; remember, the rats teeth grow throughout their life and they have to constantly gnaw to trim their teeth or otherwise they would die!
You should know that the tail suspension test does not really detect anti-depressant activity. Rather, it detects anti-depressant-like activity. FST also is not really a good measure of depression. These tests are actually a measure of stress, not depression. We have shown in a paper that "Forced swimming stress does not affect monoamine levels and neurodegeneration in rats". It is possible that the mice or rat are naturally immune to depression! Ha Ha Ha! Those nerdy animals, you know, it is a depressing irony that you have to be very foolish to be happier in your life!
Actually, I believe a new type of test is necessary for detecting anti-depressant activity in rats or mice.
Regards
It is not generally used in rats;however,I think if the rats are small i.e. not yet adults, their tails may be able to support their weights sucessfully without injury.
I agree with the previous answers that TST cannot be used in rats for the reasons that have been already explained. Personally, although widely used, I do not consider FST as really indicative of antidepressant activity because all activating compounds (cocaine for instance) will give a false positive results without being antidepressants. Learned helplessness or measurement of anhedonia will be mud better
I fully agree with the notion of Nurul Kabir that FST is not a good measure of Depression because neurobiology of depression doesn't support this model on the basis of quantitative estimation of related neurotransmitters. Therefore, there is need to develop more realistic and validated test for assessing the depression in rodents.
Respected All
Thank you so much for your valuable answers, these will definitely help in my study...
Hope this paper may useful to you http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4003678/#b19
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