Publication details
EFFECTS OF AMISULPRIDE ON LOCOMOTOR BEHAVIOUR AND LEUKOCYTE PHAGOCYTOSIS IN RAT MODEL OF DEPRESSION
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2003 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Behavioural Pharmacology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Pharmacology and pharmaceutical chemistry |
| Keywords | olfactory bulbectomy; amisulpride; antidepressant |
| Description | Amisulpride, an atypical antipsychotic agent, in low doses preferentially blocks D2 and D3 dopamine autoreceptors in the limbic system. In our pre-clinical experiment we used the bilaterally-bulbectomized rat model of depression to examine whether amisulpride reduces the characteristic hyperactive locomotor responses in these rats exposed in the open-field test. Apart from the behavioural changes also amisulpride effects on the immune function of leukocyte phagocytosis in both sham-operated and bulbectomized rats were tested. Leukocyte zymosan induced phagocytosis was evaluated according to luminol aided chemiluminescence in vitro after repeated administration of amisulpride in vivo. OB rats showed a significant increase in ambulation and rearing scores in the open-field test, and suppressed leukocyte phagocytic function compared to the sham-operated rats. Repeated amisulpride administration (7mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally, for 7 days) resulted in a significant suppression of the motor hyperactivity of the OB rats in the open field test. On the day 7 of the amisulpride treatment, there was no significant difference in the distance travelled in the tracking arena between the OB and the sham-operated groups of rats, neither in the 3-min, nor in the 5-min intervals. Amisulpride (7mg/kg/day) after 7 days of administration significantly suppressed chemiluminescence kinetic curve (measurement every 5th min during 1 h) in the sham-operated rats but did not change the inhibited leukocyte phagocytosis in the OB rats. This did not indicate amisulpride positive influence on this immune disorder caused by OB. Thus, only the results of the behavioural experiment support the hypothesized antidepressant activity of amisulpride in the present study. |
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