Forced Swim Test
Objective: Behavioral test assessing depressive-like behavior through swimming and immobility in water
This is a Forced Swim Test protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 6 procedural steps, 3 equipment items, 7 materials. Extracted from a 2011 paper published in Nature.
Model and subjects
mouse • C57Bl/6:CD-1 mixed background, C57Bl/6 • male • 8 weeks at treatment start; tested at various timepoints (12 weeks treatment duration for behavior)
Study window
~19 week study window | ~4.2 hours hands-on
Core workflow
Animal treatment initiation • Dexamethasone suppression test (if applicable) • Restraint stress exposure
Primary readouts
- Swimming behavior duration
- Immobility duration
- Depressive-like behavior indicators
- Serum corticosterone levels
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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Animal treatment initiation
Begin valganciclovir treatment of transgenic mice at 8 weeks of age
Note: Different treatment durations for different experimental cohorts (8 weeks for dexamethasone, 10-19 weeks for endocrine, 12 weeks for behavior, 4 weeks for histology)
View evidence from paper
“Male v-WT and v-TK mice were treated with valganciclovir for 8 weeks (dexamethasone experiment), 10-19 weeks (endocrine), 12 weeks (behavior) or 4 weeks (histology), beginning at 8 weeks of age”
Dexamethasone suppression test (if applicable)
Inject dexamethasone or vehicle 90 minutes prior to restraint stress
Note: Dexamethasone dose: 50 µg/kg in propylene glycol; blood sampled immediately following 10 min restraint
View evidence from paper
“For the dexamethasone suppression test, dexamethasone (Sigma; 50 µg/kg in propylene glycol) or vehicle were injected 90 min prior to restraint, and blood was sampled immediately following 10 min restraint”
Restraint stress exposure
Restrain mice for 30 minutes prior to behavioral testing
Note: Behavioral tests performed following this restraint or directly from home cage
View evidence from paper
“Behavioral tests were performed following 30 min of restraint or directly from the home cage”
Forced swim test
Place mouse in water-filled container and measure swimming and immobility behavior
Note: Test performed as previously described in referenced publications; different cohorts tested in this and other behavioral tests
View evidence from paper
“Different cohorts of mice were tested in the NSF test, elevated plus maze, forced swim test and sucrose preference test as previously described”
Blood sampling for corticosterone analysis
Obtain submandibular blood samples from home cage condition or after stress exposure
Note: Samples collected from home cage, after novel box exploration, after restraint, or after isoflurane exposure
View evidence from paper
“Serum corticosterone was measured by radioimmunoassay (MP Biomedicals) from submandibular blood samples obtained directly from the home cage condition or after exploration of a novel box, restraint, or isoflurane exposure”
Corticosterone measurement
Measure serum corticosterone levels using radioimmunoassay
Note: MP Biomedicals radioimmunoassay kit used
View evidence from paper
“Serum corticosterone was measured by radioimmunoassay (MP Biomedicals)”