Sex differences in behavioral measures of anxiety in a recessive gene knockout (

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by non-motor impairments including symptoms anxiety. These disturbances manifest in up to 40% of patients, most often early in the course of disease. While disruptive to all patients' lives, signs of anxiety are also more prevalent and/or more severe in female PD patients. Unfortunately, anxiolytic drugs are rarely used to manage these signs, as these medications can increase PD patients' risks for worsening of cognitive deficits and falls. The treatments commonly used in PD to improve patients' motor function or lessen signs of depression are often without positive effect on measures of anxiety. Thus, clinical needs for successful treatment of anxiety symptoms in PD are frequently unmet. Methods: The work presented here used longitudinal Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) testing in male and female wild type rats and in male and female rats with knockout of the PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 gene ( Results: Behavioral testing in male and female wild type and Discussion: Unlike a surprising number of other rodent models of PD that fail to emulate clinically observed anxiety and/or male/female differences in these signs, the data presented here identify