Genetic background influences the effect of thirdhand smoke exposure on anxiety and memory in Collaborative Cross mice

Growing evidence indicates that thirdhand smoke (THS) exposure induces many adverse health effects. However, it is unclear how THS exposure affects behavior and how host genetic background modulates phenotypic changes. Here we used the Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse population-based model to assess behavioral alterations immediately after THS exposure from 4 to 9 weeks of age. We first measured anxiety-like behavior in six strains using light/dark box combined with a custom multivariate mouse tracking system. We developed an anxiety risk scoring system based on anxiety-related traits and then evaluated the THS impact on them. THS exposure significantly decreased anxiety risk in CC019 (P = 0.002) and CC051 (P = 0.009), but increased anxiety risk in CC036 (P