Subjects and housing
Animals were housed in a temperature-controlled animal room (22 +/- 2
°C) on a 12 h light/dark cycle (light on from 07:00 to 19:00), with
artificial light (60-70 lumens). Food and water were available ad
libitum.
RVI test requires a resident subject and an intruder. Residents were
Sprague-Dawley male rats of 60 days and 350 g (average weight).
Intruders were Sprague-Dawley male rats of 50 days and 280 g (average
weight). Resident subjects were divided into 2 groups (n=10).
Experimental subjects were injected with pCPA and returned to their home
cage for 6 days; control subjects were injected with a vehicle and
returned to their home cage, at the same time. After the RVI test
residents were euthanized and OB were removed for posterior analysis
(Koolhaas et al., 2013). Intruder subjects remained housed in groups of
3 until the test and they were euthanized after it.