Forced Swim Test
Objective: Measurement of depressive-like behavior by assessing increased immobility in mice 24 hours after LPS administration, and evaluation of ketamine's ability to abrogate LPS-induced depressive-like behavior
This is a Forced Swim Test protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 6 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 3 materials. Extracted from a 2013 paper published in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Model and subjects
mouse • C57BL/6J • unknown • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
~1 day study window | ~72.3 hours hands-on
Core workflow
Ketamine pretreatment (immediate protocol) • LPS administration • Forced Swim Test
Primary readouts
- Immobility in forced swim test (primary measure of depressive-like behavior)
- Sucrose preference (secondary measure of depressive-like behavior)
- Body weight loss (measure of sickness behavior)
- Motor activity (measure of sickness behavior)
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
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Protocol Steps
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Ketamine pretreatment (immediate protocol)
Administer ketamine intraperitoneally at 6 mg/kg immediately before LPS administration
Note: This is the primary treatment condition tested
View evidence from paper
“a low dose of ketamine (6 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) immediately before administration of LPS”
LPS administration
Administer lipopolysaccharide intraperitoneally at 0.83 mg/kg to induce depressive-like behavior
Note: Administered immediately after ketamine in primary protocol
View evidence from paper
“administration of LPS (0.83 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) in C57Bl/6 J mice”
Forced Swim Test
Conduct forced swim test to measure depressive-like behavior by assessing immobility
Note: Depressive-like behavior measured 24 hours after LPS by increased immobility in FST
View evidence from paper
“Depressive-like behavior was measured 24 h after LPS by decreased sucrose preference and increased immobility in the forced swim test (FST)”
Alternative ketamine timing - 10 hours post-LPS
In alternative protocol, administer ketamine 10 hours after LPS administration instead of immediately before
Note: Confirms ketamine's antidepressant-like activity independent of interference with LPS-induced inflammatory signaling
View evidence from paper
“ketamine was administered 10 h after LPS instead of immediately before LPS”
Control ketamine timing - 24 hours before LPS
In control protocol, administer ketamine 24 hours before LPS administration
Note: Ketamine had no effect when administered at this timepoint
View evidence from paper
“ketamine had no effect when administered 24 h before LPS”
NBQX pretreatment protocol
Administer NBQX (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) 15 minutes before ketamine in mice treated with LPS 24 hours earlier
Note: Used to confirm NMDA receptor antagonism mediates ketamine's antidepressant-like activity
View evidence from paper
“NBQX administered at the dose of 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally 15 min before ketamine in mice treated with LPS 24 h earlier”