Deciphering Anxiety with Zebrafish: A Versatile Model for Anxiolytic Studies

Abstract

Background - Studies on behavioral pharmacology are increasingly using zebrafish as model organisms. Numerous anxiety-related behaviors in zebrafish have been documented, yet little is known about how anxiolytic drugs impact these behaviors. Anxiety is currently one of the primary unmet medical needs. Despite the wide variety of anxiolytic drugs available, many patients either do not respond well to current pharmacotherapy or see a lessening of their reactivity with repeated treatment. Search for novel compounds and learn how anxiolytic drugs function. Main body of the abstract - In the first task, we concurrently looked at the adult zebrafish's motility, color, height in the tank, and cohesiveness of the shoal. We examine the effects of buspirone hydrochloride, ethanol, benzodiazepines, and a common anxiolytic drug used in medical facilities for humans. Anxiolysis's symptoms were not brought on by anxiolytic drugs, which work by agonisting GABA receptors. We search for anxiolytic drugs in two genetically distinct populations of zebrafish, and the results show that the light/dark preference test is a sensitive, practical, and cost-effective technique. Two important behavioral characteristics seem to be shoal cohesion and tank height among the various groups of these treatments. Conclusion - The findings show that measuring the effects of human anxiolytic medications may be done simply and sensitively using zebrafish behavior.