Enhanced sensitivity of postsynaptic serotonin-1A receptors in rats and mice with high trait aggression

Individual differences in aggressive behaviour have been linked to variability in central serotonergic activity, both in humans and animals. A previous experiment in mice, selectively bred for high or low levels of aggression, showed an up-regulation of postsynaptic serotonin-1A (5-HT 1A) receptors, both in receptor binding and in mRNA levels, in the aggressive line [Brain Res 736 (1996) 338]. The aim of this experiment was to study whether similar differences in 5-HT 1A receptors exist in individuals from a random-bred rat strain, varying in aggressiveness. In addition, because little is known about the functional consequences of these receptor differences, a response mediated via postsynaptic 5-HT 1A receptors (i.e., hypothermia) was studied both in the selection lines of mice and in the randomly bred rats. The difference in receptor binding, as demonstrated in mice previously, could not be shown in rats. However, both in rats and mice, the hypothermic response to the 5-HT 1A agonist alnespirone was larger in aggressive individuals. So, in the rat strain as well as in the mouse lines, there is, to a greater or lesser extent, an enhanced sensitivity of postsynaptic 5-HT 1A receptors in aggressive individuals. This could be a compensatory up-regulation induced by a lower basal 5-HT neurotransmission, which is in agreement with the serotonin deficiency hypothesis of aggression.