Fig. 4: Non-contact cohabitation failed to induce depression contagion between depressed and naïve mice. | Translational Psychiatry

Fig. 4: Non-contact cohabitation failed to induce depression contagion between depressed and naïve mice.

From: Contagion of depression: a double-edged sword

Fig. 4

Two groups of naive mice were cohoused with two groups of demonstrators for five weeks, with a transparent acrylic board separating them. Behavioral and corticosterone tests were conducted after the scheduled time (A). Before cohabitation, the sucrose preference percentage of DP decreased significantly (B), while TST immobility time increased (C). However, no significant difference was observed between CON and DP mice in TST immobility time and serum corticosterone after 5-week cohabitation (E, F). Sucrose preference percentage remained lower in DP than in CON (D). Moreover, no difference was found between VD and VC in behavior tests and serum corticosterone level (G–I). (Group VC represented naive mice lived in the same cages with healthy mice, while Group VD represents naive mice cohoused with depressed mice. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, n(DP&CON) = 16, n(VD&VC) = 8) (Created in BioRender. BioRender.com/p75t345).

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