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The Activity-Based Anorexia Mouse Model

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Psychiatric Disorders

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 829))

Abstract

Animals housed with running wheels and subjected to daily food restriction show paradoxical reductions in food intake and increases in running wheel activity. This phenomenon, known as activity-based anorexia (ABA), leads to marked reductions in body weight that can ultimately lead to death. Recently, ABA has been proposed as a model of anorexia nervosa (AN). AN affects about 8 per 100,000 females and has the highest mortality rate among all psychiatric illnesses. Given the reductions in quality of life, high mortality rate, and the lack of pharmacological treatments for AN, a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying AN-like behavior is greatly needed. This chapter provides basic guidelines for conducting ABA experiments using mice. The ABA mouse model provides an important tool for investigating the neurobiological underpinnings of AN-like behavior and identifying novel treatments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mariel P. Seiglie for her invaluable technical assistance and for her advice and comments on this manuscript. This work was supported by NIH Grant R01MH079424 and NIH Grant TG2GM07839.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Committee on Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Stephanie J. Klenotich

  2. Committee on Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Stephanie C. Dulawa

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  1. Stephanie J. Klenotich
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  2. Stephanie C. Dulawa
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Correspondence to Stephanie C. Dulawa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, S. Newell Dr. 100, Gainesville, 32610, Florida, USA

    Firas H. Kobeissy

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Klenotich, S.J., Dulawa, S.C. (2012). The Activity-Based Anorexia Mouse Model. In: Kobeissy, F. (eds) Psychiatric Disorders. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 829. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-458-2_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-458-2_25

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-457-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-458-2

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