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Bis-Humbert C, García-Cabrerizo R, García-Fuster MJ. Dose-dependent opposite effects of nortriptyline on affective-like behavior in adolescent rats: Comparison with adult rats. Eur J Pharmacol 2021; 910:174465. [PMID: 34464602 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.174465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Antidepressant drugs elicit different behavioral and neurochemical responses with age. In fact, the use of antidepressants during adolescence is associated with an increased risk of suicidal thinking, being the best pharmacological treatment during this critical period a matter of constant debate in terms of its risk-benefit outcome. In this regard, the present study compared the effects of nortriptyline (3-10 mg/kg, 7 days) on regulating different aspects of affective-like behavior by screening adolescent and adult Sprague-Dawley rats through several consecutive tests (forced-swim, open field, sucrose preference). Brains were later collected to evaluate hippocampal neurogenesis and mBDNF protein content as potential molecular correlates of the observed behavioral responses. The main results in adolescent rats showed that nortriptyline induced dose-dependent opposite effects: while 3 mg/kg decreased immobility and increased mBDNF (indicative of an antidepressant-like response), 10 mg/kg decreased exploratory time in the open field and mBDNF (suggestive of an anxiogenic-like response). These effects were not associated with changes in neurogenesis regulation. In adult rats, nortriptyline failed to modulate affective-like behavior or the neuroplasticity markers evaluated at the doses tested. In conclusion, clear behavioral and neurochemical differences were observed between adolescent and adult rats in response to nortriptyline treatment. Interestingly, while nortriptyline displayed an antidepressant-like potential at the lowest dose examined in adolescence, a higher dose shifted these results towards a negative outcome, thus reinforcing the need to extreme caution when considering this treatment for our younger population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Bis-Humbert
- IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma, Spain
| | - Rubén García-Cabrerizo
- IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma, Spain
| | - M Julia García-Fuster
- IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma, Spain.
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Noorafshan A, Yousefi M, Hosseini L, Karbalay-Doust S. Can Sertraline and Nortriptyline Protect the Neurons in Submucosal and Myenteric Plexuses of Rat's Colon Against Stress? Dig Dis Sci 2019; 64:2548-2554. [PMID: 30937720 DOI: 10.1007/s10620-019-05600-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The colon is partly controlled by myenteric and submucosal plexuses, which respond to stress and lead to some gastrointestinal disorders. These plexuses play roles in irritable bowel syndrome. Patients suffering from this syndrome can be treated with some antidepressants, including sertraline and nortriptyline. AIMS The primary aim of study was to compare the effect of a sertraline and a nortriptyline on the structural changes of the enteric neurons after stress exposure in both sexes. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effects of stress on the submucosal and myenteric plexuses. METHODS Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to four subgroups. The first subgroup received no stress. The other three subgroups received chronic variable stress (CVS) and were given phosphate buffer, sertraline (10 mg/kg/day), or nortriptyline (10 mg/kg/day). After 45 days, the neuron number in their colon plexuses was estimated using the stereologic method. RESULTS The number of neurons increased by 40-51% in the submucosal plexus and by 57-69% in the myenteric plexus in the CVS group compared with the control group (p < 0.002) without any sex preference. The increment was significantly higher in the myenteric plexus than in the submucosal plexus (p < 0.05). Moreover, co-treatment of stressed rats with sertraline and nortriptyline could prevent the cellular hyperplasia of the plexuses, with more effective action for sertraline (p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS Stress exposure for 45 days induced hyperplasia of the colon's enteric plexuses in both sexes. However, these drugs could prevent the changes, with a more effective action for sertraline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Noorafshan
- Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand Ave., Shiraz, 71348-45794, Iran.,Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Majid Yousefi
- Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand Ave., Shiraz, 71348-45794, Iran.,Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Leila Hosseini
- Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Saied Karbalay-Doust
- Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand Ave., Shiraz, 71348-45794, Iran. .,Anatomy Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
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Umemori J, Winkel F, Didio G, Llach Pou M, Castrén E. iPlasticity: Induced juvenile-like plasticity in the adult brain as a mechanism of antidepressants. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2018; 72:633-653. [PMID: 29802758 PMCID: PMC6174980 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The network hypothesis of depression proposes that mood disorders reflect problems in information processing within particular neural networks. Antidepressants (AD), including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), function by gradually improving information processing within these networks. AD have been shown to induce a state of juvenile-like plasticity comparable to that observed during developmental critical periods: Such critical-period-like plasticity allows brain networks to better adapt to extrinsic and intrinsic signals. We have coined this drug-induced state of juvenile-like plasticity 'iPlasticity.' A combination of iPlasticity induced by chronic SSRI treatment together with training, rehabilitation, or psychotherapy improves symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders and issues underlying the developmentally or genetically malfunctioning networks. We have proposed that iPlasticity might be a critical component of AD action. We have demonstrated that iPlasticity occurs in the visual cortex, fear erasure network, extinction of aggression caused by social isolation, and spatial reversal memory in rodent models. Chronic SSRI treatment is known to promote neurogenesis and to cause dematuration of granule cells in the dentate gyrus and of interneurons, especially parvalbumin interneurons enwrapped by perineuronal nets in the prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, and amygdala. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), via its receptor tropomyosin kinase receptor B, is involved in the processes of synaptic plasticity, including neurogenesis, neuronal differentiation, weight of synapses, and gene regulation of synaptic formation. BDNF can be activated by both chronic SSRI treatment and neuronal activity. Accordingly, the BDNF/tropomyosin kinase receptor B pathway is critical for iPlasticity, but further analyses will be needed to provide mechanical insight into the processes of iPlasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juzoh Umemori
- Neuroscience Center, HiLIFEUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Frederike Winkel
- Neuroscience Center, HiLIFEUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Giuliano Didio
- Neuroscience Center, HiLIFEUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Maria Llach Pou
- Neuroscience Center, HiLIFEUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
| | - Eero Castrén
- Neuroscience Center, HiLIFEUniversity of HelsinkiHelsinkiFinland
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Shrestha SS, Pine DS, Luckenbaugh DA, Varnäs K, Henter ID, Innis RB, Mathé AA, Svenningsson P. Antidepressant effects on serotonin 1A/1B receptors in the rat brain using a gene x environment model. Neurosci Lett 2013; 559:163-8. [PMID: 24287374 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.11.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2013] [Accepted: 11/19/2013] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
A gene-environment (GxE) interaction is implicated in both the pathophysiology and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). This study modeled the effects of genetic vulnerability by using the Flinders sensitive line (FSL), a rat model of depression and its control counterpart-the Flinders resistant line (FRL). The effects of environmental vulnerability (e.g., early-life stress) were modeled by using maternal separation. Rats (n=105) were drawn from four groups reflecting experimental crossing of strain (FSL vs. FRL) and early-life stress (high vs. low) to assess the effects of two antidepressants (escitalopram or nortriptyline) compared to vehicle. Quantitative in vitro autoradiography was performed using [(125)I]MPPI (5-HT1A) and [(125)I]CYP (5-HT1B) in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus. Stringent, Bonferroni-corrected statistical analyses showed significant strain-by-rearing-by-treatment (three-way) interactions in PFC 5-HT1A and hippocampal 5-HT1B receptors. Either vulnerability reduced serotonergic binding; no additive effects were associated with the two vulnerabilities. Both antidepressants increased hippocampal 5-HT1B receptor binding; however, only nortriptyline selectively increased PFC 5-HT1A receptor binding. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that antidepressant effects on the serotonergic system are shaped by a GxE interaction that depends on antidepressant class and brain region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stal Saurav Shrestha
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Daniel S Pine
- Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - David A Luckenbaugh
- Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Katarina Varnäs
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ioline D Henter
- Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Robert B Innis
- Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Aleksander A Mathé
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Per Svenningsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Wu G, Feder A, Cohen H, Kim JJ, Calderon S, Charney DS, Mathé AA. Understanding resilience. Front Behav Neurosci 2013; 7:10. [PMID: 23422934 PMCID: PMC3573269 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 265] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2012] [Accepted: 01/30/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Resilience is the ability to adapt successfully in the face of stress and adversity. Stressful life events, trauma, and chronic adversity can have a substantial impact on brain function and structure, and can result in the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and other psychiatric disorders. However, most individuals do not develop such illnesses after experiencing stressful life events, and are thus thought to be resilient. Resilience as successful adaptation relies on effective responses to environmental challenges and ultimate resistance to the deleterious effects of stress, therefore a greater understanding of the factors that promote such effects is of great relevance. This review focuses on recent findings regarding genetic, epigenetic, developmental, psychosocial, and neurochemical factors that are considered essential contributors to the development of resilience. Neural circuits and pathways involved in mediating resilience are also discussed. The growing understanding of resilience factors will hopefully lead to the development of new pharmacological and psychological interventions for enhancing resilience and mitigating the untoward consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Wu
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NY, USA
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Overstreet DH, Wegener G. The Flinders Sensitive Line Rat Model of Depression—25 Years and Still Producing. Pharmacol Rev 2013; 65:143-55. [DOI: 10.1124/pr.111.005397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 164] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
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Melo TG, Izídio GS, Ferreira LS, Sousa DS, Macedo PT, Cabral A, Ribeiro AM, Silva RH. Antidepressants differentially modify the extinction of an aversive memory task in female rats. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2012; 37:33-40. [PMID: 22310225 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2012.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2011] [Revised: 01/23/2012] [Accepted: 01/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Treatment of major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychopathologies with antidepressants can be associated with improvement of the cognitive deficits related to these disorders. Although the mechanisms of these effects are not completely elucidated, alterations in the extinction of aversive memories are believed to play a role in these psychopathologies. We have recently verified that female rats present low levels of extinction when submitted to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task. In the present study, female rats were treated long term with clinically used antidepressants (fluoxetine, nortriptyline or mirtazapine) and subjected to the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task to evaluate learning, memory, extinction and anxiety-related behaviors as well as behavioral despair in the forced swimming test. All groups learned the task and exhibited retrieval. Chronic treatment with fluoxetine (but not with the other antidepressants tested) increased extinction of the discriminative task. In the forced swimming test, the animals treated with fluoxetine and mirtazapine showed decreased immobility duration. In conclusion, fluoxetine potentiated extinction, while both fluoxetine and mirtazapine were effective in ameliorating depressive-like behavior in the forced swimming test, suggesting a possible dissociation between the effects on mood and the extinction of aversive memories in female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thieza G Melo
- Memory Studies Laboratory, Physiology Department, Federal University of Rio Grande of Norte, Natal, Brazil
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Kaae SS, Chen F, Wegener G, Madsen TM, Nyengaard JR. Quantitative hippocampal structural changes following electroconvulsive seizure treatment in a rat model of depression. Synapse 2012; 66:667-76. [PMID: 22389166 DOI: 10.1002/syn.21553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2011] [Accepted: 02/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The pathophysiology of depression and the effects of antidepressant treatment are hypothesized to be related to hippocampal structural changes. This study aims to investigate the effect of electroconvulsive seizures on behavior and hippocampal structure in a rat model of depression. METHODS Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) and Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats were treated daily for 10 days with either electroconvulsive seizures or sham treatment. The behavior was evaluated using the forced swim test. Design-based stereological methods were used to quantify the hippocampal volume and the numbers of neurons and glial cells in specific hippocampal subregions. RESULTS The basal level of hippocampal volume and neuron number differed significantly between the two rat strains, and a trend toward the FSL strain having more glial cells was found. The structural differences found between the sham-treated animals were counteracted by electroconvulsive seizure (ECS) treatment, which also normalized the behavior. ECS treatment increased the number of glial cells in hilus significantly in the FRL rats and with the same tendency for the FSL rats. CONCLUSION Our results indicate that along with hippocampal neurogenesis, gliogenesis may also be involved in the pathophysiology of depression and in the effect of antidepressant treatment. The underlying mechanisms remain unknown, and further investigations are required to clarify whether the structural changes are necessary to induce a therapeutic effect of antidepressant treatment or if they rather represent an epiphenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne S Kaae
- Stereology and EM Laboratory, Centre for Stochastic Geometry and Advanced Bioimaging, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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10
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Eriksson TM, Delagrange P, Spedding M, Popoli M, Mathé AA, Ögren SO, Svenningsson P. Emotional memory impairments in a genetic rat model of depression: involvement of 5-HT/MEK/Arc signaling in restoration. Mol Psychiatry 2012; 17:173-84. [PMID: 21242991 PMCID: PMC3265836 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2010.131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive dysfunctions are common in major depressive disorder, but have been difficult to recapitulate in animal models. This study shows that Flinders sensitive line (FSL) rats, a genetic rat model of depression, display a pronounced impairment of emotional memory function in the passive avoidance (PA) task, accompanied by reduced transcription of Arc in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. At the cellular level, FSL rats have selective reductions in levels of NMDA receptor subunits, serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptors and MEK activity. Treatment with chronic escitalopram, but not with an antidepressant regimen of nortriptyline, restored memory performance and increased Arc transcription in FSL rats. Multiple pharmacological manipulations demonstrated that procognitive effects could also be achieved by either disinhibition of 5-HT(1A)R/MEK/Arc or stimulation of 5-HT₄R/MEK/Arc signaling cascades. Taken together, studies of FSL rats in the PA task revealed reversible deficits in emotional memory processing, providing a potential model with predictive and construct validity for assessments of procognitive actions of antidepressant drug therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- T M Eriksson
- Center of Molecular Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden,Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - P Delagrange
- Inst De Recherches Servier, Experimental Sciences, Suresnes, France
| | - M Spedding
- Inst De Recherches Servier, Experimental Sciences, Suresnes, France
| | - M Popoli
- Center of Neuropharmacology, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - A A Mathé
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S O Ögren
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - P Svenningsson
- Center of Molecular Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden,Center of Molecular Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Nanna Svartz väg 2, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden. E-mail:
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Wegener G, Mathe AA, Neumann ID. Selectively bred rodents as models of depression and anxiety. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2012; 12:139-187. [PMID: 22351423 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2011_192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Stress related diseases such as depression and anxiety have a high degree of co morbidity, and represent one of the greatest therapeutic challenges for the twenty-first century. The present chapter will summarize existing rodent models for research in psychiatry, mimicking depression- and anxiety-related diseases. In particular we will highlight the use of selective breeding of rodents for extremes in stress-related behavior. We will summarize major behavioral, neuroendocrine and neuronal parameters, and pharmacological interventions, assessed in great detail in two rat model systems: The Flinders Sensitive and Flinders Resistant Line rats (FSL/FRL model), and rats selectively bred for high (HAB) or low (LAB) anxiety related behavior (HAB/LAB model). Selectively bred rodents also provide an excellent tool in order to study gene and environment interactions. Although it is generally accepted that genes and environmental factors determine the etiology of mental disorders, precise information is limited: How rigid is the genetic disposition? How do genetic, prenatal and postnatal influences interact to shape adult disease? Does the genetic predisposition determine the vulnerability to prenatal and postnatal or adult stressors? In combination with modern neurobiological methods, these models are important to elucidate the etiology and pathophysiology of anxiety and affective disorders, and to assist in the development of new treatment paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregers Wegener
- Centre for Psychiatric Research, Aarhus University Hospital, 8240, Risskov, Denmark,
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Mikrouli E, Wörtwein G, Soylu R, Mathé AA, Petersén Å. Increased numbers of orexin/hypocretin neurons in a genetic rat depression model. Neuropeptides 2011; 45:401-6. [PMID: 21871662 DOI: 10.1016/j.npep.2011.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2010] [Revised: 07/11/2011] [Accepted: 07/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat is a genetic animal model of depression that displays characteristics similar to those of depressed patients including lower body weight, decreased appetite and reduced REM sleep latency. Hypothalamic neuropeptides such as orexin/hypocretin, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) and cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART), that are involved in the regulation of both energy metabolism and sleep, have recently been implicated also in depression. We therefore hypothesized that alterations in these neuropeptide systems may play a role in the development of the FSL phenotype with both depressive like behavior, metabolic abnormalities and sleep disturbances. In this study, we first confirmed that the FSL rats displayed increased immobility in the Porsolt forced swim test compared to their control strain, the Flinders Resistant Line (FRL), which is indicative of depressive-like behavior. We then examined the number of orexin-, MCH- and CART-immunopositive neurons in the hypothalamus using stereological analyses. We found that the total number of orexin-positive neurons was higher in the hypothalamus of female FSL rats compared to female FRL rats, whereas no changes in the MCH or CART populations could be detected between the strains. Chronic treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram reduced immobility only in the FRL rats where it also increased the number of MCH positive neurons compared to untreated rats. These findings support the view that orexin may be involved in depression and strengthen the notion that the "depressed" brain responds differently to pharmacological interventions than the normal brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elli Mikrouli
- Translational Neuroendocrine Research Unit, BMC D11, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, 22184 Lund, Sweden
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Hansson AC, Rimondini R, Heilig M, Mathé AA, Sommer WH. Dissociation of antidepressant-like activity of escitalopram and nortriptyline on behaviour and hippocampal BDNF expression in female rats. J Psychopharmacol 2011; 25:1378-87. [PMID: 21262856 DOI: 10.1177/0269881110393049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
A major hypothesis of depression postulates that a dysregulation of the neurotrophin systems is directly involved in the pathophysiology of depression, and that restoration of such deficits may underlie the therapeutic efficacy of antidepressant treatment. One key finding supporting this hypothesis is upregulation of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus after antidepressant treatment. Here, we further test the hypothesis of BDNF involvement in antidepressant action in a genetic rat model of depression after chronic oral treatment with escitalopram, nortriptyline or placebo. Active treatments had significant behavioural antidepressant-like actions in female rats of the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) and non-selected Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, while Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats were unaffected. Escitalopram, but not nortriptyline, markedly reduced BDNF mRNA levels in the dentate gyrus of FSL rats. The BDNF downregulation was common to the four major promoters of the gene. Treatments did not affect BDNF expression in FRL or SD strains. We conclude that the antidepressant effects of escitalopram and nortriptyline, two common drugs with different pharmacological profiles, appear to be unrelated to the regulation of hippocampal BDNF expression in female rats. These results indicate that the tropic hypothesis of depression has limitations and emphasize the need for validated disease models of depression to assess potential treatment targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita C Hansson
- Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Neumann ID, Wegener G, Homberg JR, Cohen H, Slattery DA, Zohar J, Olivier JDA, Mathé AA. Animal models of depression and anxiety: What do they tell us about human condition? Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2011; 35:1357-75. [PMID: 21129431 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2010] [Revised: 10/24/2010] [Accepted: 11/19/2010] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
While modern neurobiology methods are necessary they are not sufficient to elucidate etiology and pathophysiology of affective disorders and develop new treatments. Achievement of these goals is contingent on applying cutting edge methods on appropriate disease models. In this review, the authors present four rodent models with good face-, construct-, and predictive-validity: the Flinders Sensitive rat line (FSL); the genetically "anxious" High Anxiety-like Behavior (HAB) line; the serotonin transporter knockout 5-HTT(-/-) rat and mouse lines; and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) model induced by exposure to predator scent, that they have employed to investigate the nature of depression and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- I D Neumann
- Dept of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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Piubelli C, Gruber S, El Khoury A, Mathé AA, Domenici E, Carboni L. Nortriptyline influences protein pathways involved in carbohydrate metabolism and actin-related processes in a rat gene-environment model of depression. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2011; 21:545-62. [PMID: 21168998 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2010.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2010] [Revised: 09/24/2010] [Accepted: 11/09/2010] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Although most available antidepressants increase monoaminergic neurotransmission, their therapeutic efficacy is likely mediated by longer-term molecular adaptations. To investigate the molecular changes induced by chronic antidepressant treatment we analysed proteomic changes in rat pre-frontal/frontal cortex and hippocampus after nortriptyline (NT) administration. A wide-scale analysis of protein expression was performed on the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL), a genetically-selected rat model of depression, and the control Flinders Resistant Line (FRL). The effect of NT treatment was examined in a gene-environment interaction model, applying maternal separation (MS) to both strains. In the forced swim test, FSL rats were significantly more immobile than FRL animals, whereas NT treatment reduced immobility time. MS alone did not modify immobility time, but it impaired the response to NT in the FSL strain. In the proteomic analysis, in FSL rats NT treatment chiefly modulated cytoskeleton proteins and carbohydrate metabolism. In the FRL strain, changes influenced protein polymerization and intracellular transport. After MS, NT treatment mainly affected proteins in nucleotide metabolism in FSL rats and synaptic transmission and neurite morphogenesis pathways in FRL rats. When the effects of NT treatment and MS were compared between strains, carbohydrate metabolic pathways were predominantly modulated.
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Onksen JL, Brown EJ, Blendy JA. Selective deletion of a cell cycle checkpoint kinase (ATR) reduces neurogenesis and alters responses in rodent models of behavioral affect. Neuropsychopharmacology 2011; 36:960-9. [PMID: 21248719 PMCID: PMC3077265 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2010.234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Hippocampal function has been implicated in mood and anxiety disorders, as well as in the response to antidepressant (AD) treatment. However, the significance of new neurons in the therapeutic mechanism of ADs remains unclear. In this study, the proliferation of new neurons was inhibited through conditional deletion of ataxia telangeictasia-mutated and rad-3 related (ATR), a cell cycle checkpoint kinase, and cellular and behavioral outcomes following AD exposure were evaluated. ATR was conditionally deleted by microinjecting a Cre recombinase-expressing virus into the hippocampus of floxed-ATR mice. Behavioral assessment in multiple rodent models of affective state revealed anxiolytic-like behavior in the elevated zero maze, marble burying test, and novelty-induced hypophagia (NIH) test. The efficacy of chronic desipramine (DMI) treatment was evaluated in the NIH test, as this paradigm is thought to be sensitive to increases in neurogenesis by chronic AD exposure. Chronic exposure to DMI reduced hyponeophagia in the NIH test in control mice, whereas DMI had no behavioral effect in ATR-deleted mice. Although DMI did not alter cell proliferation in either group, it did produce a robust increase in dendritic spine density in control mice, indicative of enhanced neuronal plasticity. This effect of DMI on spine density was severely attenuated following ATR deletion. These findings demonstrate that reductions in basal neurogenesis produce an anxiolytic phenotype and reduce AD efficacy in behaviors requiring chronic exposure. Furthermore, attenuated capacity for synaptic remodeling may underlie these behaviors. ATR deletion may serve as a valuable model to study the various proposed roles of newborn neurons in the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Onksen
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Eric J Brown
- Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Julie A Blendy
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Tel: +215 898 0730, Fax: +215 573 2041, E-mail:
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Wager-Smith K, Markou A. Depression: a repair response to stress-induced neuronal microdamage that can grade into a chronic neuroinflammatory condition? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011; 35:742-64. [PMID: 20883718 PMCID: PMC3777427 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2010] [Revised: 09/17/2010] [Accepted: 09/21/2010] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Depression is a major contributor to the global burden of disease and disability, yet it is poorly understood. Here we review data supporting a novel theoretical model for the biology of depression. In this model, a stressful life event leads to microdamage in the brain. This damage triggers an injury repair response consisting of a neuroinflammatory phase to clear cellular debris and a spontaneous tissue regeneration phase involving neurotrophins and neurogenesis. During healing, released inflammatory mediators trigger sickness behavior and psychological pain via mechanisms similar to those that produce physical pain during wound healing. The depression remits if the neuronal injury repair process resolves successfully. Importantly, however, the acute psychological pain and neuroinflammation often transition to chronicity and develop into pathological depressive states. This hypothesis for depression explains substantially more data than alternative models, including why emerging data show that analgesic, anti-inflammatory, pro-neurogenic and pro-neurotrophic treatments have antidepressant effects. Thus, an acute depressive episode can be conceptualized as a normally self-limiting but highly error-prone process of recuperation from stress-triggered neuronal microdamage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Wager-Smith
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA.
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Bjørnebekk A, Mathé AA, Brené S. The antidepressant effects of running and escitalopram are associated with levels of hippocampal NPY and Y1 receptor but not cell proliferation in a rat model of depression. Hippocampus 2010; 20:820-8. [PMID: 19623606 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.20683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
One hypothesis of depression is that it is caused by reduced neuronal plasticity including hippocampal neurogenesis. In this study, we compared the effects of three long-term antidepressant treatments: escitalopram, voluntary running, and their combination on hippocampal cell proliferation, NPY and the NPY-Y1 receptor mRNAs, targets assumed to be important for hippocampal plasticity and mood disorders. An animal model of depression, the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat, was used and female rats were chosen because the majority of the depressed population is females. We investigated if these treatments were correlated to immobility, swimming, and climbing behaviors, which are associated with an overall, serotonergic-like and noradrenergic-like antidepressant response, in the Porsolt swim test (PST). Interestingly, while escitalopram, running and their combination increased the number of hippocampal BrdU immunoreactive cells, the antidepressant-like effect was only detected in the running group and the group with access both to running wheel and escitalopram. Hippocampal NPY mRNA and the NPY-Y1 receptor mRNA were elevated by running and the combined treatment. Moreover, correlations were detected between NPY mRNA levels and climbing and cell proliferation and NPY-Y1 receptor mRNA levels and swimming. Our results suggest that increased cell proliferation is not necessarily associated with an antidepressant effect. However, treatments that were associated with an antidepressant-like effect did regulate hippocampal levels of mRNAs encoding NPY and/or the NPY-Y1 receptor and support the notion that NPY can stimulate cell proliferation and induce an antidepressant-like response.
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Antidepressant-like properties of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and cholinergic dependency in a genetic rat model of depression. Behav Pharmacol 2010; 21:540-7. [DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0b013e32833befe5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Carboni L, Becchi S, Piubelli C, Mallei A, Giambelli R, Razzoli M, Mathé AA, Popoli M, Domenici E. Early-life stress and antidepressants modulate peripheral biomarkers in a gene-environment rat model of depression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2010; 34:1037-48. [PMID: 20580919 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2010] [Revised: 05/18/2010] [Accepted: 05/18/2010] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Availability of peripheral biomarkers for depression could aid diagnosis and help to predict treatment response. The objective of this work was to analyse the peripheral biomarker response in a gene-environment interaction model of depression. Genetically selected Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats were subjected to maternal separation (MS), since early-life trauma is an important antecedent of depression. An open-ended approach based on a proteomic analysis of serum was combined with the evaluation of depression-associated proteins. METHODS Rats experienced MS and chronically received escitalopram (ESC) or nortryptiline (NOR). Serum proteins were compared by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Corticosterone, cytokines, BDNF and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured by immunoassays. RESULTS Comparing FSL with the control Flinders Resistant Line (FRL), Apo-AI and Apo-AIV, alpha1-macroglobulin, glutathione peroxidase and complement-C3 were significantly modulated. Significant increases were detected in leptin, interleukin (IL) 1alpha and BDNF. CRP levels were significantly reduced. The impact of early-life stress was assessed by comparing FSL+MS versus FSL. Apo-E, alpha1-macroglobulin, complement-C3, transferrin and hemopexin were significantly modulated. The effect of stress in antidepressant response was then evaluated. In the comparison FSL+ESC+MS versus FSL+ESC, albumin, alpha1-macroglobulin, glutathione peroxidase and complement-C3 were modulated and significant reductions were detected in IL4, IL6, IL10, CRP and BDNF. By comparing FSL+NOR+MS versus FSL+NOR proteins like Apo-AIV, pyruvate dehydrogenase, alpha1-macroglobulin, transferrin and complement-C3 showed different levels. CONCLUSIONS Lipid metabolism and immunity proteins were differently expressed in FSL in comparison with FRL. Exposure to MS induced changes in inflammation and transport proteins which became apparent in response to antidepressant treatments. Modulated proteins could suggest biomarker studies in humans.
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Reversal of hippocampal neuronal maturation by serotonergic antidepressants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010; 107:8434-9. [PMID: 20404165 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0912690107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 162] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Serotonergic antidepressant drugs have been commonly used to treat mood and anxiety disorders, and increasing evidence suggests potential use of these drugs beyond current antidepressant therapeutics. Facilitation of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus has been suggested to be a candidate mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs, but this mechanism may be only one of the broad effects of antidepressants. Here we show a distinct unique action of the serotonergic antidepressant fluoxetine in transforming the phenotype of mature dentate granule cells. Chronic treatments of adult mice with fluoxetine strongly reduced expression of the mature granule cell marker calbindin. The fluoxetine treatment induced active somatic membrane properties resembling immature granule cells and markedly reduced synaptic facilitation that characterizes the mature dentate-to-CA3 signal transmission. These changes cannot be explained simply by an increase in newly generated immature neurons, but best characterized as "dematuration" of mature granule cells. This granule cell dematuration developed along with increases in the efficacy of serotonin in 5-HT(4) receptor-dependent neuromodulation and was attenuated in mice lacking the 5-HT(4) receptor. Our results suggest that serotonergic antidepressants can reverse the established state of neuronal maturation in the adult hippocampus, and up-regulation of 5-HT(4) receptor-mediated signaling may play a critical role in this distinct action of antidepressants. Such reversal of neuronal maturation could affect proper functioning of the mature hippocampal circuit, but may also cause some beneficial effects by reinstating neuronal functions that are lost during development.
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