The expression of HoxB5 and SPC in neonatal rat lung at exposure to fluoxetine

Razieh Taghizadeh,1 Zahra Taghipour,2 Akbar Karimi,1 Ali Shamsizadeh,3 Mohammad Mohsen Taghavi,2 Mahdi Shariati,2 Ahmad Shabanizadeh,2 Hamid Reza Jafari Naveh,2 Reza Bidaki,4 Fariba Aminzadeh51Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Isfahan, Iran; 2Department of Anatomy, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran; 3Department of Physiology, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran; 4Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran; 5Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, IranObjective: Approximately 10% of pregnant women suffer from pregnancy-associated depression. Fluoxetine, as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is being employed as a therapy for depressive disorders. The present study aimed to determine the effects of fluoxetine on neonatal lung development.Methods: Thirty pregnant Wistar rats (weighing 200–250 g) were treated daily with 7 mg/kg fluoxetine from gestation day 0 to gestation day 21, via gavage. The control group received a similar volume of distilled water only. Following delivery, the newborns and their lungs were immediately weighed in both of the groups. The right lung was fixed for histological assessments while the left lung was used for evaluation of the expression of SPC and HoxB5 by the real-time polymerase chain reaction method.Results: Results have indicated that even though the body weight and the number of neonatal rats in both groups were the same, the lung weight of neonates exposed to fluoxetine was significantly different compared to the control group (P