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- Jayatissa, Magdalena N., et al.
(author)
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Hippocampal cytogenesis correlates to escitalopram-mediated recovery in a chronic mild stress rat model of depression
- 2006
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In: Neuropsychopharmacology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1740-634X .- 0893-133X. ; 31:11, s. 2395-2404
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- From clinical studies it is known that recurrent depressive episodes associate with a reduced hippocampal volume. Conversely, preclinical studies have shown that chronic antidepressant treatment increases hippocampal neurogenesis. Consequently, it has been suggested that a deficit in hippocampal neurogenesis is implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. To study a potential correlation between recovery and hippocampal cytogenesis, we established the chronic mild stress ( CMS) rat model of depression. When rats are subjected to CMS, several depressive symptoms develop, including the major symptom anhedonia. Rats were exposed to stress for 2 weeks and subsequently to stress in combination with antidepressant treatment for 4 consecutive weeks. The behavioral deficit measured in anhedonic animals is a reduced intake of a sucrose solution. Prior to perfusion animals were injected with bromodeoxyuridine ( BrdU), a marker of proliferating cells. Brains were sectioned horizontally and newborn cells positive for BrdU were counted in the dentate gyrus and tracked in a dorsoventral direction. CMS significantly decreased sucrose consumption and cytogenesis in the ventral part of the hippocampal formation. During exposure to the antidepressant escitalopram, given as intraperitoneally dosages of either 5 or 10 mg/kg/day, animals distributed in a bimodal fashion into a group, which recovered ( increase in sucrose consumption), and a subgroup, which refracted treatment ( no increase in sucrose consumption). Chronic treatment with escitalopram reversed the CMS-induced decrease in cytogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the ventral hippocampal formation, but in recovered animals only. Our data show a correlation between recovery from anhedonia, as measured by cessation of behavioral deficits in the CMS model, and an increase in cytogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the ventral hippocampal formation.
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