A brain microdialysis study on 5-HT release in freely moving rat lines selectively bred for differential 5-HT1A receptor function

Breeding for high and low hypothermic responses to systemic administration of a serotonin1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonist (8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin, 8-OH-DPAT) has resulted in high DPAT-sensitive (HDS) and low DPAT-sensitive (LDS) lines of rats, respectively. These lines also differ in several behavioral measures associated with stress. In the present microdialysis study we observed that basal 5-HT concentrations in the prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus did not differ significantly between HDS and LDS rats. Thus, behavioral differences between the HDS and LDS lines might not be attributed to differences in basal 5-HT release. However, both lines had lower basal levels of 5-HT release than their randomly bred control group (random DPAT-sensitive, RDS) in the prefrontal cortex (mean ± SEM, pg/20 µl, was 3.0 ± 0.4 for LDS, 3.8 ± 0.3 for HDS and 6.4 ± 0.6 for RDS; F(2,59) = 5.8, P<0.005). The administration of (±)-fenfluramine (10 mg/kg) induced a greater increase in hippocampal 5-HT levels in HDS rats (500%) as compared with LDS (248%) or RDS (243%) rats (P<0.0001). There were no significant differences in the prefrontal cortex among lines, with a fenfluramine-induced 5-HT increase of about 900% in the three groups. This differential response to fenfluramine may be due to functional alterations of hippocampal 5-HT reuptake sites in the HDS line

Hepatic drug metabolizing profile of Flinders Sensitive Line rat model of depression

The Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rat model of depression exhibits some behavioral, neurochemical, and pharmacological features that have been reported in depressed patients and has been very effective in screening antidepressants. Major factor that determines the effectiveness and toxicity of a drug is the drug metabolizing capacity of the liver. Therefore, in order to discriminate possible differentiation in the hepatic drug metabolism between FSL rats and Sprague-Dawley (SD) controls, their hepatic metabolic profile was investigated in this study. The data showed decreased glutathione (GSH) content and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity and lower expression of certain major CYP enzymes, including the CYP2B1, CYP2C11 and CYP2D1 in FSL rats compared to SD controls. In contrast, p-nitrophenol hydroxylase (PNP), 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase (EROD) and 16α-testosterone hydroxylase activities were higher in FSL rats. Interestingly, the wide spread environmental pollutant benzo(α)pyrene (B(α)P) induced CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2B1/2 and ALDH3c at a lesser extend in FSL than in SD rats, whereas the antidepressant mirtazapine (MIRT) up-regulated CYP1A1/2, CYP2C11, CYP2D1, CYP2E1 and CYP3A1/2, mainly, in FSL rats. The drug also further increased ALDH3c whereas suppressed GSH content in B(α)P-exposed FSL rats. In conclusion, several key enzymes of the hepatic biotransformation machinery are differentially expressed in FSL than in SD rats, a condition that may influence the outcome of drug therapy. The MIRT-induced up-regulation of several drug-metabolizing enzymes indicates the critical role of antidepressant treatment that should be always taken into account in the designing of treatment and interpretation of insufficient pharmacotherapy or drug toxicity. © 2010 Elsevier Inc