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Cited by 49Stress Responses and CortisolNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorTreatment of Major Depression

Reliability of sucrose preference testing following short or no food and water deprivation—a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of rat models of chronic unpredictable stress

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Berrio, Jenny P., Hestehave, Sara, Kalliokoski, Otto·2024·Translational Psychiatry
DOI 10.1038/s41398-024-02742-0PMC PMC10799054

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Abstract

The sucrose preference test is a popular test for anhedonia in the chronic unpredictable stress model of depression. Yet, the test does not always produce consistent results. Long food and water deprivation before the test, while often implemented, confounds the results by introducing unwanted drives in the form of hunger and thirst. We assessed the reliability of the test when only short or no fasting was used. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for studies in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress that used no more than 6 h of food and/or water deprivation before the test. Sweet consumptions, for stressed and control/antidepressant-treated animals, in 132 studies were pooled using random effects models. We found a decrease in sweet consumption in stressed rats, compared to controls, that was halved when a non-caloric sweetener was used and significantly reduced when sucrose consumption was corrected for body weight. What is more, the length of food and water deprivation was found to confound the effect. The effect was reversed when the stressed rats were treated with antidepressants. Methodological strategies meant to control for recognized sources of bias when conducting the test were often missing, and so was a clear and complete report of essential study information. Our results indicate that not only is food and water deprivation before the test unnecessary, but not recommended. Even in absence of long fasting, we found evidence of an additional effect on sweet consumption that is unrelated to anhedonia. Without properly controlling for non-hedonic drivers of consumption, the test is unreliable as a proxy measure of anhedonia. Strengthening the methodological rigor and addressing the confounding effect of metabolic factors in the sucrose preference test prevents misleading conclusions that harm the translatability of the associated research and perpetuates the use of animals for little gain.

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Authors
Berrio, J. P., Hestehave, S., & Kalliokoski, O.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
ORCID
Venue
Translational Psychiatry
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2024-01-19
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
39-39
ISSN
2158-3188 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41398-024-02742-0
PMC
PMC10799054
OpenAlex
W4391025772
Cited by
49
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4
FWCI
1.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Translational Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
sucrose preference test, anhedonia, chronic unpredictable mild stress, animal models of depression, food and water deprivation, test reliability, artificial sweeteners, antidepressant treatment, rat model, confounding
MeSH terms
Animals, Food, Stress, Psychological, Sucrose, Water Deprivation, Reproducibility of Results, Rats, Anhedonia

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