Prodepressant- and anxiogenic-like effects of serotonin-selective, but not noradrenaline-selective, antidepressant agents in mice lacking α2-containing GABA_A receptors.

ABSTRACT: Deficits in neuronal inhibition via gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors (GABAA-Rs) are implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder and the therapeutic effects of current antidepressant treatments, however, the relevant GABAA-R subtype as defined by its alpha subunit is still unknown. We previously reported anxiety- and depressive-like behavior in alpha2+/- and alpha2-/- mice, respectively (Vollenweider, 2011). We sought to determine whether this phenotype could be reversed by chronic antidepressant treatment. Adult male mice received 4 or 8mg/kg fluoxetine or 53mg/kg desipramine in their drinking water for four weeks before undergoing behavioral testing. In the novelty suppressed feeding test, desipramine had anxiolytic-like effects reducing the latencies to

SUBMITTER: Benham RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5551052 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature