Figure 3.

Restraint stress resulted in the development of anxiety-like behaviors in C57Bl/6J mice. Throughout the 20-h stress procedure, both the no stress and stress groups were deprived of access to food and water. After the termination of restraint stress, both the unstressed and stressed groups of mice were given access to food and water for a period of 2 h to restore their resources. Subsequently, the elevated plus maze (EPM) was conducted. Video recordings were captured using an iPhone Xs Max and later analyzed using ToxTrac_v2.98 software. Representative video tracking images captured during a 5-minute EPM are presented (a). A comparison was made between the control group (no stress) and the restraint stress group (stress) for open-arm traveled distance (b), and open-arm staying time (c). The number of samples used for analysis was 3 (n = 3). The statistical significance of the obtained results was examined using student's t-test. and *indicates statistical significance at P < 0.05, when compared to their respective no stress groups. All protocols for examining the experimental animals were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan (approval ID: 111052)