Sex-dependent Schizophrenia and Drug Reward Behavioral Phenotypes in Metabotropic Glutamate 5 Receptor Heterozygous and Homozygous Mice.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: The metabotropic glutamate 5 (mGlu5) receptor is a potential therapeutic target for psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and substance use disorders. Indeed, mGlu5 is expressed in forebrain regions (eg, striatum, prefrontal cortex), and mGlu5 modulates N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor function and second messenger signaling. Also, male mice lacking mGlu5 display schizophrenia-like and substance use-relevant behaviors. However, there are limited investigations of sex differences or gene-dose effects in this model. STUDY DESIGNS: We evaluated schizophrenia-relevant and cocaine reward-relevant behaviors in adult male and female mice with heterozygous (mGlu5 HET..