Two-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test was performed (females (M): N.Ch. Adnp+/+
N = 5–7; N.Ch. Adnp+/−
N = 4–6; +Ch. Adnp+/+
N = 6–9; +Ch. Adnp+/−
N = 4–7; +Ch. Adnp+/+ PACAP N = 5–8; +Ch. Adnp+/− PACAP N = 4–7). a
Adnp+/− female male mice exhibit markedly increased total distance traveled in the open field apparatus, further increased by stress-challenge and reduced by PACAP treatment. In stress-challenged females, main effects for genotype (F(1,15) = 14.358, p = 0.002) and interaction (F(1,15) = 5.541, p = 0.033) were found, with significant differences between PACAP- and vehicle-treated Adnp+/− mice (*p < 0.05), and Adnp+/+ vs. Adnp+/− mice (***p < 0.001). In vehicle-treated females, significant main genotype (F(1,15) = 26.946, p < 0.001) and treatment (F(1,15) = 10.137, p = 0.006) effects were found, with significant differences between non-challenged Adnp+/+ and Adnp+/− mice (*p < 0.05), challenged vs. non-challenged Adnp+/− mice (*p < 0.05), and challenged Adnp+/+ vs. Adnp+/− mice (***p < 0.001). b In female mice, stress-challenged Adnp+/− mice spent substantially more time in the open arms compared with non-challenged Adnp+/− mice, challenged Adnp+/+ mice, and challenged PACAP-treated Adnp+/− mice. In stress-challenged females, main effects for treatment (F(1,27) = 7.823, p = 0.009) and interaction (F(1,27) = 5.779, p = 0.023) were found, with a significant difference between PACAP- and vehicle-treated Adnp+/− mice (**p < 0.01), as well as Adnp+/+ vs. Adnp+/− mice (*p < 0.05). In vehicle-treated females, a main effect for stress-challenge was found (F(1,25) = 15.297, p < 0.001), with a significant difference between non-challenged and challenged Adnp+/− mice (***p < 0.001), as well as challenged Adnp+/+ vs. Adnp+/− mice (*p < 0.05). c For all experimental groups in the study (total N = 30), plasma cortisol levels were positively correlated with the D2 score in the elevated plus maze test (Spearman’s correlation, r = 0.379, *p < 0.05)