mitochondrial toxicity by 3-np enhanced susceptibility to defective social behaviors in male wistar rats

Introduction: the impaired mitochondrial function in neurons is a principal abnormality in many medical conditions. behavioral changes are the key aspects that emerge under these conditions. in the current study, we investigated whether social interactions are influenced by 3-nitropropionic acid (3-np)-induced mitochondrial failure. we also assessed changes in glucocorticoid receptor (gr) and fkbp5 protein levels, cytochrome contents, and monoamine oxidase (mao) a and b activities in the striatum (st), hippocampus (hip), and prefrontal cortex (pfc) of the subjects.methods: adult male wistar rats were treated with 3-np. then, the social and non-social behaviors of 3-np-treated rats were investigated. different dissected brain regions were considered regarding gr and fkbp5 protein levels, cytochrome contents, and mao-a and mao-b. results: we found a significantly decreased duration of social behaviors and impaired non-social behavioral tests. we detected a decreasing trend in gr and fkbp5 protein levels. moreover, cytochrome contents and mao a and b activities decreased in the dissected brain regions.conclusion: impaired social/non-social behaviors and decreased levels of investigated molecular variables in the regions mentioned above after 3-np treatment might point to processes connecting mitochondrial failure to behavioral impairment, particularly social type.