Figure 6.

Effect of intra-basolateral division of the amygdala (BL-d) recombinant adeno-associated viral vector (rAAV)-mediated Ghrelin receptor (Ghr-R) overexpression on behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM) test during basal conditions and after 15-minute restraint stress. (a-b) Ghr-R overexpression had no significant effect on open arm time and open arm entries in the EPM (n=8–12). (c-d) After 15 minutes of restraint stress, the mice spent less time on and had fewer entries to the open arms of the plus maze, but there was no difference between Ghr-R-overexpressing and control mice for either parameter tested (n=8–12). (e) Ghr-R mRNA levels quantified using in situ hybridization in basolateral (BLA) and lateral (La) nuclei of the 2 subgroups with low and high La expression, respectively. (a-b inserts) The subgroup of mice, which displayed high Ghr-R overexpression in the La in addition to the BLA (n=4), spent significantly more time and had a tendency toward increased number of entries into the open arms of the EPM compared with the empty vector control group (n=12). Asterisks indicate statistical significance in unpaired Student’s t test (a) or in Bonferroni posthoc test after significant 2-way ANOVA (e) (*P<.05, **P<.01).