Electroconvulsive shock increases endogenous monoamine oxidase inhibitor activity in brain and cerebrospinal fluid

Monoaminergic regulation of Sonic hedgehog signaling cascade expression in the adult rat hippocampus

Monoamines are implicated in the modulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in depression models and following chronic antidepressant treatment. Given the key role of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in adult neurogenesis, we examined whether monoaminergic perturbations regulate the expression of Shh or its co-receptors Smoothened (Smo) and Patched (Ptc). Combined depletion of both serotonin and norepinephrine with para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) resulted in a significant decrease in Smo and Ptc mRNA within the dentate gyrus subfield of the hippocampus. However, selective depletion of serotonin, using the serotonergic neurotoxin 5,7-dihyrdroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), or norepinephrine, using the noradrenergic neurotoxin DSP-4, did not alter expression of Shh and its co-receptors, Smo and Ptc. Acute treatment with the monoamine releasing agent, para-chloroamphetamine (PCA) significantly upregulated Smo mRNA within the dentate gyrus. However, acute or chronic treatment with pharmacological antidepressants that modulate monoaminergic neurotransmission did not regulate Shh cascade expression. These results indicate that robust changes in monoamine levels can regulate the expression of the Shh signaling cascade in the adult rodent brain.

Magnetic and seizure thresholds before and after six electroconvulsive treatments

OBJECTIVES

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established treatment in psychiatry. It has been reported that in patients with nondelusional major depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may substitute for ECT. To explore whether ECT and TMS share mechanisms of action, we studied the effects of ECT on both seizure threshold (ST) and magnetic motor threshold (MT).

METHODS

We measured ST and MT in 10 patients referred for ECT. MT was defined as the minimal power of the TMS equipment at which a motor evoked potential (MEP) response could be detected 50% of the time. ST was defined as the minimal intensity of electrical stimulation needed to elicit an adequate seizure. ECT was performed following the methods recommended by the American Psychiatric Association. All subjects signed an informed consent for participation in the research.

RESULTS

We measured MT and ST in 10 patients before and after 6 ECT treatments. No changes in MT were detected from the treatment (paired t-test: t = 1.05, SD = 4.78, p = 0.25). ST, on the other hand, increased significantly with treatment (paired t-test: t = 2.99, SD = 190.20, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

ECT and TMS do not share a common mechanism at least with regard to MT and ST.

Limbic dopaminergic adaptation to a stressful stimulus in a rat model of depression

The dopaminergic mesolimbic system has a key role in motivation and reward, and stressful stimuli appear to alter its functionality. Since stress is considered to be one of the primary factors that mediate the expression of depressive behavior, dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens of control and Flinders Sensitive Line rats, an animal model of depression, were examined prior to and after a forced swim test. In both types of rats, the levels of dopamine metabolites markedly decreased after the forced swimming, albeit to different extents. In contrast, 60 min after the swim test, dopamine levels were elevated only in the control rats. The accumbal dopaminergic activity is discussed in relation to the behavior of 'depressed' and normal rat lines subjected to a stressful event.

Stress and/or tranylcypromine treatment affects serotonergic measures in blood and brain in rats

Since stress can alter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) turnover in the brain and the periphery, the effects of different types of acute stress on serotonin and related substances in the whole blood and various brain areas in rats pretreated with tranylcypromine (TCP) were studied. TCP administered alone caused a rise in 5-HT, a fall in its metabolite (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, 5-HIAA) in the whole blood and in every part of the brain analyzed relative to controls. In rats given TCP and subjected to footshock or water-immersion restraint stress similar changes, but to a different extent, were observed. 5-HT level remained essentially constant except in the blood and the limbic system, whereas 5-HIAA level was found to be increased in the blood and the brain, mainly in the limbic system and the brainstem following footshock. Water-immersion restraint stress caused an increase in 5-HT only in the limbic system without any changes in 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the blood. Relative to controls, an increase in total tryptophan concentration in the whole blood and in every part of the brain was found only after footshock application with or without pretreatment with TCP. In conclusion, responses to stress in rats may depend upon the type of stimulus applied as well as of a concurrent administration of TCP. Some regional differences may account for an altered in vivo efficacy of this drug.

Serotonergic systems in brain and blood under stress and tranylcypromine treatment in rats

The effects of stress on serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA), and/or tryptophan in whole blood and various brain areas of rats pretreated with tranylcypromine were studied. In the whole blood, tranylcypromine given alone caused a rise in levels of 5-HT and a fall in levels of its metabolite (5-HIAA) and the ratio of 5-HIAA:5-HT, whereas in stressed rats pretreated with tranylcypromine only the last two findings were observed. We found that animals given tranylcypromine and subjected to water-immersion restraint stress exhibited the greatest rise in 5-HT levels in midbrain, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, together with the lowest 5-HIAA:5-HT ratio relative to controls, whereas in cortex, cerebellum, medulla, and striatum the highest levels of 5-HT together with the lowest ratio of 5-HIAA:5-HT were observed after the administration of tranylcypromine alone. 5-HT levels were found to be higher in medulla and striatum in rats given tranylcypromine alone relative to stressed rats pretreated with this drug. We concluded that regional differences account for variable effects of tranylcypromine on blood and brain serotonergic systems in vivo.

The stress-induced reduction in monoamine oxidase (MAO) A activity is reversed by benzodiazepines: role of peripheral benzodiazepine receptors

1. The effect of benzodiazepine pretreatment on the stress-induced decrease in MAO activity in rat tissues using footshock as stress model was investigated. 2. Animals were injected with vehicle, Lorazepam (1.25 mg/kg), or Clonazepam (0.5 mg/kg) 2 hr before or with PK 11195 (0.45 mg/kg) 2.5 hr before being subjected to one session of 10 inescapable footshocks or to a sham session. At the end of the session animals were sacrificed and MAO A and B activities in hearts and brains were determined. 3. Pretreatment of the animals with both Lorazepam and Clonazepam abolished the decrease induced by footshock in MAO A activity in brain. Pretreatment with Lorazepam but not with Clonazepam abolished the stress-induced decrease in MAO A in the heart. Pretreatment with PK 11195 before Lorazepam reversed its effects in the heart but not in the brain. Neither footshock nor any of the drugs used had any effect on heart and brain MAO B. 4. Our results suggest that in the heart but not in the brain, peripheral benzodiazepine receptors play a role in the regulation of MAO A activity under stress conditions.

Augmentation of rat brain endogenous monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity (tribulin) by electroconvulsive shock

The effects of acute and subacute supramaximal and submaximal electroshock-induced convulsions on rat brain tribulin activity were investigated. Both supramaximal and submaximal shocks induced a marked increase, as measured 30 min after the onset of convulsions, with a significantly greater effect from the former. The effects were no longer present 24 h after stimulus. Repeated electroshock for 5 and 10 days showed that submaximal stimuli produced little change, whereas supramaximal shock brought about a significant increase in tribulin activity, the effect being greater with 10-day exposure. The results are not inconsistent with the clinical observation that a single electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) shock has little clinical usefulness but that repeated shocks, spread over several days, result in therapeutic benefit due, perhaps, to an increase in brain concentrations of tribulin, an endogenous monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

Footshock affects heart and brain MAO and MAO inhibitory activity and open field behavior in rats

This study examined the effects, after 1 min or 2 hr, of one footshock session on the activity of MAO in rat heart and brain, the MAO inhibitory activity of these tissues, and the animal's behavior in an open field. Internal ambulation was reduced at both times; the lowest score was registered at 1 min. The number of boluses emitted during the test was higher in the group tested at 2 hr than in the other groups. One min after shocks MAO activity in heart and brain was decreased. In the heart MAO was still decreased 2 hr later, then reaching the lowest levels, while at that time, brain MAO was not different from controls. When assayed separately (MAO A and B), only the A form was found to change. MAO inhibitory activity in heart was increased at both times, the highest activity observed 2 hr after footshock. Brain MAO inhibitory activity was increased only in the 1-min group. Ex vivo competition experiments with clorgyline suggested presence in vivo of a reversible MAO inhibitor. The time-dependent response to stress of both MAO activity and MAO inhibitory activity in the tissues correlates with the responses observed in the open field test. These findings suggest that the observed biochemical changes might be related to increased autonomic activity and to the state of fear and anxiety evoked by the stressful procedure.

Stress causes an increase in endogenous monoamine oxidase inhibitor (tribulin) in rat brain

Two hours of cold restraint stress in rats resulted in significantly increased brain concentrations of endogenous monoamine oxidase inhibitor (tribulin). Young and old rats showed the same order of response. Tribulin levels were also increased by immobilisation stress alone but to a lesser extent.

Variations in the monoamine oxidase-inhibitory activity ("tribulin?") in pig's urine

Sandler and his colleagues (see Sandler, 1982) have demonstrated the presence of an endogenous inhibitor of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) and of benzodiazepine receptor binding in the urine and blood plasma of man and rat. The concentrations of this material increased under stress conditions and it has been named "tribulin". In the present experiments MAO-inhibitory activity was found in extracts of urine and plasma samples of domestic pigs. Evidence was obtained that the inhibitory activity was higher when pigs experienced slight discomfort. Thus it appears that pigs produce a substance similar to tribulin. It may become possible to use such MAO-inhibitory activity as an indicator in the assessment of interaction with the environment in pig husbandry.