Curative effects of the atypical antidepressant mianserin in the chronic mild stress-induced anhedonia model of depression

This study was designed to validate a novel animal model of depression by testing the curative effects of the atypical antidepressant mianserin. In this paradigm, the hedonic state of rats was assessed using an intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedure. The ICSS threshold was determined before,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of psychiatry & neuroscience Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 51 - 56
Main Authors MOREAU, J.-L, BOURSON, A, JENCK, F, MARTIN, J. R, MORTAS, P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ottawa, ON Canadian Medical Association 1994
Subjects
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Animals
Behavior, Animal - drug effects
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Depression - drug therapy
Depression - etiology
Male
Medical sciences
Mianserin - pharmacology
Mianserin - therapeutic use
Mood disorders
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Rats
Self Stimulation - drug effects
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Ventral Tegmental Area - drug effects
Mood disorder
Animal model
Rat
Psychotropic
Electrical stimulus
Rodentia
Anhedonia
Depression
Vertebrata
Mammalia
Pleasure unpleasure
Self stimulation
Antidepressant agent
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Summary:This study was designed to validate a novel animal model of depression by testing the curative effects of the atypical antidepressant mianserin. In this paradigm, the hedonic state of rats was assessed using an intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedure. The ICSS threshold was determined before, during and after a 38-day period of exposure to a variety of intermittent, unpredictable, mild stressors. After 11 days of this regimen, the ICSS threshold was significantly higher in the stressed rats, suggesting a gradual decrease of sensitivity to reward. This "anhedonia" lasted throughout the stress regimen and progressively diminished over a 20-day period after stress was terminated. When stressed animals exhibiting anhedonia were treated with mianserin, the stress-induced increase in the ICSS threshold was gradually reversed over ten days of treatment. These results provide further support for the value of this anhedonia paradigm in modelling an important aspect of human depressive disorders.
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ISSN:1180-4882
1488-2434