The effects of unpredictable chronic mild stress on the effects of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline (10 mg/kg) and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) in the Porsolt test were studied in male mongrel mice. Single doses of fluoxetine given after 14-day chronic mild stress lacked any antidepressant effect, while subchronic administration for 14 days strengthened depressive-like reactions. After stress for 28 days, the antidepressant effect of fluoxetine was present regardless of the number of doses given. Amitriptyline showed antidepressant activity independently of the duration of stress and the administration regime, though the presence of stress decreased the intensity of the antiimmobility effect. Thus, the number of doses and the duration of unpredictable mild stress are parameters determining the efficacy of antidepressants in the forced swimming test.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. Andreatini, “Depression and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: increasing the scope,” Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 24, 1–3 (2012).
V. Castagne, R. Porsolt, and P. Moser, “Early behavioral screening for antidepressants and anxiolytics,” Drug Dev. Res., 67, 729–742 (2006).
A. E. Castaneda, A. Tuulio-Henriksson, M. Marttunen, et al., “A review on cognitive impairments in depressive and anxiety disorders with a focus on young adults,” J. Affect. Disord., 106, 1–27 (2008).
D. Ciraulo and R. Shader, Pharmacotherapy of Depression, Humana Press, New York (2011), 2nd ed.
M. Gavish, I. Bachman, R. Shoukrun, et al., “Enigma of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor,” Pharmacol. Rev., 51, No. 4, 629–650 (1999).
J. Gorman and J. Docherty, “A hypothesized role for dendritic remodeling in the etiology of mood and anxiety disorders,” J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci., 22, No. 3, 256–264 (2010).
L. Griffin and S. Mellon, “Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors directly alter activity of neurosteroidogenic enzymes,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, No. 23, 13,512–13,517 (1999).
J. Gronli, Chronic Mild Stress – an Animal Model of Depression: from Behavior to Molecules: Doctoral Thesis, University of Bergen (2006).
B. Gunn, A. Brown, J. Lambert, and D. Belelli, “Neurosteroids and GABAA receptor interactions: a focus on stress,” Neuroscience, 5, A131 (2011).
J. Heinzmann, A. Knapman, P. van Nieuwenhuijzen, et al., “Fluoxetine impacts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation and changes stress-coping behaviour in mice selectively bred for extremes in stress reactivity,” Pharmacopsychiatry, 21, A54 (2011).
L. Heisler, N. Pronchuk, K. Nonogaki, et al., “Serotonin activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis via serotonin 2C receptor stimulation,” J. Neurosci., 27, No. 26, 6956–6964 (2007).
R. Hilal-Dandan and L. Brunton, Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, New York (2011), 12th ed.
S. A. Johnson, N. M. Fournier, and L. E. Kalynchuk, “Effect of different doses of corticosterone on depression-like behavior and HPA axis responses to a novel stressor,” Behav. Brain. Res., 168, 280–288 (2006).
J. E. Malberg, A. J. Eisch, E. J. Nestler, and R. S. Duman, “Chronic antidepressant treatment increases neurogenesis in adult rat hippocampus,” J. Neurosci., 20, No. 24, 9104–9110 (2000).
I. Mendez-David, R. Hen, A. M. Gardier, and D. J. David, “Adult hippocampal neurogenesis: An actor in the antidepressant-like action,” Ann. Pharm. Fr., 71, No. 3, 143–149 (2013).
M. E. Page, M. J. Detke, A. Dalvi, et al., “Serotonergic mediation of the effects of fluoxetine, but not desipramine, in the rat forced swimming test,” Psychopharmacology, 147, No. 2, 162–167 (1999).
M. T. Perona, S. Waters, F. S. Hall, et al., “Animal models of depression in dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine transporter knockout mice: prominent effects of dopamine transporter deletions,” Behav. Pharmacol., 19, No. 5–6, 566–574 (2008).
B. Petit-Demouliere, F. Chenu, and M. Bourin, “Forced swimming test in mice: a review of antidepressant activity,” Psychopharmacology, 177, No. 3, 245–255 (2005).
G. Pinna, E. Costa, and A. Guidotti, “Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine stereospecifically facilitate pentobarbital sedation by increasing neurosteroids,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, No. 16, 6222–6225 (2004).
R. D. Porsolt, “Animal model of depression,” Biomedicine, 30, No. 3, 139–140 (1979).
A. Sahay and R. Hen, “Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in depression,” Nat. Neurosci., 10, 1110–1115 (2007).
V. Uzunova, Y. Sheline, J. M. Davis, et al., “Increase in the cerebrospinal fluid content of neurosteroids in patients with unipolar major depression who are receiving fluoxetine or fluvoxamine,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 3239–3244 (1998).
V. van der Meersch-Mougeot, M. J. da Rocha, C. Monier, et al., “Benzodiazepines reverse the anti-immobility effect of antidepressants in the forced swimming test in mice,” Neuropharmacol., 32, No. 5, 439–446 (1993).
B. Vollmayr and F. Henn, “Stress models of depression,” Clin. Neurosci. Res., 3, 245–251 (2003).
S. A. Vreeburg, W. J. Hoogendijk, J. van Pelt, et al., “Major Depressive Disorder and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Activity,” Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 66, No. 6, 617–626 (2009).
J. W. Wang, D. J. David, J. E. Monckton, et al., “Chronic fluoxetine stimulates maturation and synaptic plasticity of adult-born hippocampal granule cells,” J. Neurosci., 28, No. 6, 1374–1384 (2008).
J. L. Warner-Schmidt and R. S. Duman, “Hippocampal neurogenesis: opposing effects of stress and antidepressant treatment,” Hippocampus, 16, 239–249 (2006).
P. Willner, “Chronic mild stress (CMS) revisited: Consistency and behavioural neurobiological concordance in the effects of CMS,” Neuropsychobiology, 52, 90–110 (2005).
E. A. Young, M. Altemus, J. F. Lopez, et al., “HPA axis activation in major depression and response to fluoxetine: a pilot study,” Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29, No. 9, 1198–1204 (2004).
Q. Zhou, K. J. Homma, and M. M. Poo, “Shrinkage of dendritic spines associated with long-term depression of hippocampal synapses,” Neuron, 44, No. 5, 749–757 (2004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 101, No. 2, pp. 163–170, February, 2015.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kudryashov, N.V., Kalinina, T.S. & Voronina, T.A. Effects of Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress on the Effects of Antidepressants in the Forced Swimming Test. Neurosci Behav Physi 46, 601–605 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0284-z
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0284-z