1. Effects of escitalopram on the regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor protein levels in a rat model of chronic stress.
- Author
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Schulte-Herbrüggen O, Fuchs E, Abumaria N, Ziegler A, Danker-Hopfe H, Hiemke C, and Hellweg R
- Subjects
- Adrenal Glands drug effects, Adrenal Glands pathology, Animals, Body Weight drug effects, Brain drug effects, Brain metabolism, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor blood, Chronic Disease drug therapy, Dominance-Subordination, Drinking Behavior drug effects, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Functional Laterality, Linear Models, Male, Nerve Growth Factor blood, Organ Size drug effects, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Stress, Psychological blood, Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation pharmacology, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor metabolism, Citalopram pharmacology, Nerve Growth Factor metabolism, Stress, Psychological drug therapy, Stress, Psychological metabolism
- Abstract
Escitalopram (ES-CIT) is a widely used, highly specific antidepressant. Until now there has been very little evidence on how this drug under pathological conditions affects an important feature within the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders such as depression: the endogenous neurotrophins. By using a well-characterized rat model in which chronic stress induces depressive-like behavior, the levels of neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) were determined in representative brain regions and serum using a highly sensitive improved fluorometric two-site ELISA system. There was a significant increase of BDNF in the left and right cortices after stress treatment (twofold increase) that was reversed by application of ES-CIT. An ES-CIT-dependent NGF reduction in stressed rats was detectable in the right cortex only (P = 0.027). The left hippocampus revealed significantly higher amounts of BDNF (2.5-fold increase) protein than the right hippocampus. These interhemispheric differences were unrelated to stress or ES-CIT treatment in all animals. BDNF and NGF of the frontal cortex, cerebellum, and serum did not change between the study groups. There was a negative correlation between body weight and serum BDNF, independent of stress or ES-CIT treatment. In conclusion, BDNF and NGF show substantial changes in this rodent model of chronic social stress, which is susceptible to antidepressant treatment with ES-CIT and therefore may constitute a neurobiological correlate for the disease.
- Published
- 2009
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