Topic: chronic unpredictable stress

Around 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression. However, treatment for this mood disorder is ineffective in 30% of patients. An important target for the treatment of depression is the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), which is the main source of serotonin (5-HT) to the forebrain. Previous research has shown that mecamylamine (Mec) increases the activity of 5-HT neurons by enhancing glutamate release through activation of α4β2 nicotinic receptors (nAChRs), while inhibiting GABAergic release by inhibiting α7 nAChRs in the DRN. This mechanism may explain its antidepressant properties. Howev

Depression is associated with alterations in brain glucose metabolism and impairments in processes associated with the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle (ANLS). Within this framework, lactate emerges as a promising therapeutic avenue, demonstrating antidepressant efficacy in diverse mouse models of depression, including the forced swim test and chronic corticosterone treatment. Our study explores the impact of stress and elevated corticosterone on astrocyte-neuron metabolic coupling, examining restoration potential of lactate treatment in controlled in vitro and complex in vivo settings. Prolon

A cognitive model of stress posits that psycho-affective disorders can arise from a perceived lack of stress control. Uncontrollability is linked to perturbed prefrontocortical (PFC)-limbic signalling of endocannabinoids (anandamide) and altered hormonal activity (prolactin and glucocorticoids). Behavioural therapies such as cognitive-behavioural/remediation therapies ameliorate symptoms by enhancing perceived controllability. There is also evidence that augmenting endocannabinoid and hormonal levels results in antidepressant/anti-stress action. Based on a modified version of the rodent Morris

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) and maternal mirtazapine treatment on the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α in the plasma of dams and their adolescent offspring (PP50) of both sexes.In the present study, mothers (n = 6-8/ group) and adolescent offspring (n = 6-8/ group) were divided into 4 groups: no stress+vehicle, no stress+mirtazapine, stress+vehicle, stress+mirtazapine. Dams in the stress group were exposed to CUS for a total of 3 weeks. Females from each group were then mated and treated from the 10th day of gestation to the 2

Yueju, a Chinese traditional herbal medicine formula, has a rapid antidepressant action. We have previously identified two active ingredients from Yueju: two iridoids, geniposide (GM) and shanzhiside methyl ester (SM). Only co-treatment (GS) with GM (44 mg/kg) and SM (4.7 mg.kg) elicits synergistic rapid antidepressant action by activating polypeptide (PACAP) activity and its associated CaMKII–BDNF signalling the hippocampus. We further investigate whether chronic treatment with GM and SM are effective in eliciting antidepressant effects via enhancing hippocampal adult neurogenesis. Two mouse

Antidepressant treatment during pregnancy may endanger neurodevelopment of the offspring. Cellular parameters (hippocampal homeostasis) and physiological parameters (behavioral aspects) in the offspring of Mirtazapine treated and depressed mothers are not yet fully described. We evaluated changes in cellular calcium homeostasis (Fura2AM) and CaV1.2 expression, presence of mitochondrial superoxide radicals (MitoSOXTM) together with behavior of developing pups.As an experimental model of perinatal depression we used pre-gestational exposure to chronic unpredictable stress followed by Mirtazapine

In preclinical neuroscience, we are increasingly dependent on large-scale methods for evidence synthesis. With several million biomedical papers published every year, no one researcher can stay on top of the published literature. Instead we employ tools like systematic reviews to distill this information down. These methods rely on the published information being truthful, however. What happens when the evidence we collect is not? In a systematic review concerning the use of chronic unpredictable stress for modeling depression in rats, we screened 1,035 published papers for inconsistencies in

Chronic exposure to stressors is associated with the emergence of psychiatric disorders, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We previously showed that developmental chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) diminishes the habituation of dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonergic (5-HT) neurons to acute stressors and enhances anxiety-like responses. Here, we investigated whether the change in 5-HT DRN habitution underlies CUS-induced behavioural alterations. We exposed larval zebrafish to the CUS, subsequently ablated DRN 5-HT neurons using chemogenetics and assessed different types of anxiety-lik

We previously reported that pregestational chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) and prenatal treatment with the antidepressant mirtazapine alter offspring anxiety and spatial memory (Viñas-Noguera et al. PLoS One 17: e0255546, 2022). The present study was designed to investigate the potential involvement of dopamine transmission in these behavioral changes. Maternal CUS and mirtazapine were administered as previously described. Adult offspring were anesthetized with chloral hydrate and electrodes were placed in the ventral tegmental area. Dopamine neurons were detected and recorded. We found no