Anxiolytic-like effect of mirtazapine mediates its effect in the median raphe nucleus

被引:7
作者
An, Yan [1 ]
Inoue, Takeshi [1 ]
Kitaichi, Yuji [1 ]
Izumi, Takeshi [2 ]
Nakagawa, Shin [1 ]
Song, Ning [1 ,3 ]
Chen, Chong [1 ]
Li, XiaoBai [3 ]
Koyama, Tsukasa [1 ]
Kusumi, Ichiro [1 ]
机构
[1] Hokkaido Univ, Dept Psychiat, Grad Sch Med, Kita Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 0608638, Japan
[2] Hokkaido Univ, Dept Neuropharmacol, Grad Sch Med, Kita Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 0608638, Japan
[3] China Med Univ, Dept Psychiat, Affiliated Hosp 1, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning, Peoples R China
关键词
Mirtazapine; Median raphe nucleus; Hippocampus; Amygdala; Contextual fear condition; CONDITIONED FEAR STRESS; CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM; RAT-BRAIN; ANXIETY DISORDER; 5-HT MECHANISMS; FOOD-INTAKE; RECEPTOR; 5-HYDROXYTRYPTAMINE; AMYGDALA; RELEASE;
D O I
10.1016/j.ejphar.2013.09.078
中图分类号
R9 [药学];
学科分类号
1007 ;
摘要
Mirtazapine, a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA), blocks the alpha(2)-adrenergic autoreceptors and heteroreceptors, which are responsible for controlling noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) release. Though preclinical and clinical studies have shown that mirtazapine exerts an anxiolytic action, its precise brain target sites remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the brain area(s) in which mirtazapine exerts its anxiolytic-like effects on the expression of contextual conditioned freezing in rats. Mirtazapine (3 mu g/site) was directly injected into three brain structures, the median raphe nucleus (MRN), hippocampus and amygdala. Freezing behavior tests were carried out 10 min after injections. Our results showed that the intra-MRN injection of mirtazapine reduced freezing significantly, whereas injections into the hippocampus or the amygdala did not. In addition, the intra-MRN injection of mirtazapine did not affect locomotor activity. These results suggest that the anxiolytic-like effect of mirtazapine might be mediated by its action on the MRN. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:192 / 197
页数:6
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