PMID- 19360902 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20090921 LR - 20131121 IS - 1097-4547 (Electronic) IS - 0360-4012 (Linking) VI - 87 IP - 11 DP - 2009 Aug 15 TI - Effects of escitalopram on the regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor protein levels in a rat model of chronic stress. PG - 2551-60 LID - 10.1002/jnr.22080 [doi] AB - Escitalopram (ES-CIT) is a widely used, highly specific antidepressant. Until now there has been very little evidence on how this drug under pathological conditions affects an important feature within the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders such as depression: the endogenous neurotrophins. By using a well-characterized rat model in which chronic stress induces depressive-like behavior, the levels of neurotrophins brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) were determined in representative brain regions and serum using a highly sensitive improved fluorometric two-site ELISA system. There was a significant increase of BDNF in the left and right cortices after stress treatment (twofold increase) that was reversed by application of ES-CIT. An ES-CIT-dependent NGF reduction in stressed rats was detectable in the right cortex only (P = 0.027). The left hippocampus revealed significantly higher amounts of BDNF (2.5-fold increase) protein than the right hippocampus. These interhemispheric differences were unrelated to stress or ES-CIT treatment in all animals. BDNF and NGF of the frontal cortex, cerebellum, and serum did not change between the study groups. There was a negative correlation between body weight and serum BDNF, independent of stress or ES-CIT treatment. In conclusion, BDNF and NGF show substantial changes in this rodent model of chronic social stress, which is susceptible to antidepressant treatment with ES-CIT and therefore may constitute a neurobiological correlate for the disease. FAU - Schulte-Herbruggen, Olaf AU - Schulte-Herbruggen O AD - Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charite-University Medicine Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany. FAU - Fuchs, Eberhard AU - Fuchs E FAU - Abumaria, Nashat AU - Abumaria N FAU - Ziegler, Annerose AU - Ziegler A FAU - Danker-Hopfe, Heidi AU - Danker-Hopfe H FAU - Hiemke, Christoph AU - Hiemke C FAU - Hellweg, Rainer AU - Hellweg R LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PL - United States TA - J Neurosci Res JT - Journal of neuroscience research JID - 7600111 RN - 0 (Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation) RN - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) RN - 0DHU5B8D6V (Citalopram) RN - 9061-61-4 (Nerve Growth Factor) SB - IM MH - Adrenal Glands/drug effects/pathology MH - Animals MH - Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation/*pharmacology MH - Body Weight/drug effects MH - Brain/drug effects/metabolism MH - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/blood/*metabolism MH - Chronic Disease/drug therapy MH - Citalopram/*pharmacology MH - Dominance-Subordination MH - Drinking Behavior/drug effects MH - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay MH - Functional Laterality MH - Linear Models MH - Male MH - Nerve Growth Factor/blood/*metabolism MH - Organ Size/drug effects MH - Rats MH - Rats, Wistar MH - Stress, Psychological/blood/*drug therapy/*metabolism EDAT- 2009/04/11 09:00 MHDA- 2009/09/22 06:00 CRDT- 2009/04/11 09:00 PHST- 2009/04/11 09:00 [entrez] PHST- 2009/04/11 09:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2009/09/22 06:00 [medline] AID - 10.1002/jnr.22080 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Neurosci Res. 2009 Aug 15;87(11):2551-60. doi: 10.1002/jnr.22080.