Effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment on catalepsy and the immune response in mice with a genetic predisposition to freezing reactions: the roles of types 1A and 2A serotonin receptors and the tph2 and SERT genes

Neurosci Behav Physiol. 2010 Jun;40(5):521-7. doi: 10.1007/s11055-010-9291-7. Epub 2010 May 14.

Abstract

ASC (Antidepressant-Sensitive Catalepsy) mice, bred for a high predisposition to catalepsy, are characterized by depression-like behavior and decreased immune responses. Chronic administration of fluoxetine, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant widely used in clinical practice, to mice of this strain weakened catalepsy and normalized the number of rosette-forming cells in the spleen. In mice of the parental cataleptic strain CBA/Lac, fluoxetine had no effect on the level of catalepsy or the immune response. Analysis of the effects of fluoxetine on the functional activity of 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2A) receptors, and the expression of 5-HT(1A) receptor genes in the frontal cortex and midbrain and 5-HT(2A) receptors in the frontal cortex, as well as the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 and the serotonin transporter genes in the midbrain showed that the antidepressant had no effect on these parameters in ASC mice, but decreased the functional activity of 5-HT(2A) receptors in CBA/Lac mice. The possibility that the actions of fluoxetine on catalepsy and the immune response in mice with depression-like states are mediated via other serotoninergic mechanisms is discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antidepressive Agents / administration & dosage
  • Antidepressive Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antidepressive Agents / therapeutic use
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Catalepsy / drug therapy
  • Catalepsy / genetics
  • Catalepsy / physiopathology*
  • Fluoxetine / administration & dosage
  • Fluoxetine / pharmacology*
  • Fluoxetine / therapeutic use
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A / physiology*
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / physiology*
  • Rosette Formation
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / physiology*
  • Species Specificity
  • Tryptophan Hydroxylase / genetics*
  • Tryptophan Hydroxylase / physiology*

Substances

  • Antidepressive Agents
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A
  • Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Slc6a4 protein, mouse
  • Fluoxetine
  • Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A
  • Tph2 protein, mouse
  • Tryptophan Hydroxylase