Mice plasma and brain pharmacokinetics of amitriptyline and its demethylated and hydroxylated metabolites after half-life repeated administration. Comparison with acute administration

Antidepressant-mediated reversal of abnormal behavior and neurodegeneration in mice following olfactory bulbectomy

Olfactory bulbectomy is an established animal model of depression that has been mostly investigated in rats. As in human major depression, bulbectomy induces behavioral alterations that can be ameliorated by chronic antidepressant treatment. Furthermore, bulbectomy in rats is known to induce neurodegeneration in some brain areas. The aim of the present study was to evaluate patterns of behavioral alterations and neurodegeneration, and their drug-induced reversibility, in bulbectomized mice. Our results reveal that in mice bulbectomy increases locomotor activity and induces deficits in the passive avoidance test, comparable to the effects seen in rats. Bulbectomy also induced neuronal degeneration, visualized by incorporation of Fluoro-Jade B, in the piriform cortex and the posterolateral cortical amygdaloid nucleus (PLCo). Chronic treatment with the antidepressant amitriptyline protected neurons in both areas and efficiently reversed abnormal locomotor activity induced by bulbectomy. Treatment with citalopram was effective in reversing the behavioral deficits induced by bulbectomy, but did not protect against neurodegeneration. Our data indicate significant overlap between mice and rats in terms of behavioral alterations and neurodegeneration following olfactory bulbectomy. However, there are differences in drug-mediated reversibility of neurodegeneration suggesting that neurodegeneration and protection may be "second-order" features in this animal model of depression. This may also be relevant in the context of studies using genetically altered mice.

Chronic treatment with duloxetine is necessary for an anxiolytic-like response in the mouse zero maze: the role of the serotonin transporter

RATIONALE

Monoamine transporter inhibitor antidepressants have anxiolytic efficacy in man. However, preclinical data poorly reflect this, either because (1) few studies assess chronic antidepressant treatment in animal models, (2) antidepressants are anxiogenic after acute treatment; and (3) animal models of anxiety are insensitive to antidepressants.

OBJECTIVE

We address issues (1) and (2) and ascertain potential mechanisms mediating anxiolytic effects demonstrated.

METHODS

The effect of acute treatment with seven antidepressants covering the classes selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants were compared with the benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide, on the mouse zero maze, an unconditioned model of anxiety. Furthermore, citalopram, duloxetine, reboxetine and amitriptyline were assessed after chronic administration (10 mg/kg p.o., 21 days, twice daily) in this model. In mice treated chronically, (a) the hypothermic response to serotonin (5-HT)1A and 5-HT1B receptor ligands, 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OHDPAT) and m-chlorophenyl piperazine (mCPP), respectively, was assessed and (b) serotonin transporter (SERT) and noradrenaline transporter (NET) densities in the cortex and hippocampus, respectively, were determined.

RESULTS

None of the antidepressants were anxiolytic after acute treatment, although reboxetine, duloxetine and amitriptyline were anxiogenic. Only chronic treatment with duloxetine induced an anxiolytic effect, which was dissociable from nonspecific motor effects. Duloxetine reduced SERT density in the cortex by approximately 75% compared to control, with no effect on NET density in the hippocampus. Citalopram and amitriptyline significantly reduced SERT density by approximately 20%, whereas reboxetine selectively reduced NET density. All drugs reduced the hypothermic response to 8-OHDPAT and mCPP.

CONCLUSION

Duloxetine was anxiolytic after chronic but not acute treatment, reflecting clinical experience with antidepressants in general. Duloxetine's anxiolytic-like profile may be ascribed to the considerable reduction in the density of the SERT in the cortex.

P-glycoprotein reduces the ability of amitriptyline metabolites to cross the blood brain barrier in mice after a 10-day administration of amitriptyline

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a 170-kDa membrane protein and the gene product of the multiple drug resistance (MDR1 or ABCB1) gene. It constitutes an important part of the blood-brain barrier and actively exports a number of molecules across the blood-brain barrier back into the vascular space, subsequently reducing central nervous system (CNS) bioavailability of these substances. The aim of the present study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of amitriptyline and its metabolites in P-gp (also called mdr1ab or abcb1ab) knockout mice and controls after a long-term adminstration for 10 days. Knockout mice and controls received s.c. injections of amitriptyline (10 microg/g bodyweight) twice daily for 10 days. After 10 days, the animals were sacrificed and the concentrations of amitriptyline and nortriptyline and both their E-10-OH and Z-10-OH metabolites were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography in the cerebrum, plasma, spleen, kidney, testes, lung, liver, muscle and fat. Except for amitriptyline, the brain concentrations of all other examined substances were significantly higher in the P-gp knockout mice. Compared to controls, concentrations of nortriptyline were 2.6-fold higher, E-10-OH-nortriptyline 10-fold higher, Z-10-OH-nortriptyline seven-fold higher, E-10-OH-amitriptyline two-fold higher and Z-10-OH-amitriptyline five-fold higher. The present study confirms that P-gp plays an important role in the interaction between CNS drugs and the blood-brain barrier. Without P-gp at the blood-brain barrier, the brain concentrations of the substances were up to 10-fold higher, showing that P-gp plays an active role in exporting CNS drugs out of the brain. Recent clinical studies showing different side-effects in patients with P-gp polymorphisms confirm the clinical importance of these findings.

Sympathetic nerve destruction in spleen in murine AIDS

In susceptible strains of mice, the LP-BM5 mixture of murine retroviruses induces the fatal immunodeficiency disease known as murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (murine AIDS or MAIDS). We have previously reported that murine AIDS produces a profound depletion of splenic norepinephrine (NE). Here, we demonstrate that NE depletion is limited to the spleen, a major site affected by LP-BM5 infection. NE depletion in the spleen is first observed at two weeks following LP-BM5 inoculation, concurrent with the onset of splenomegaly, and continues through 12 weeks post-infection. Neuroanatomical studies revealed that the reduction in NE is due to destruction of splenic sympathetic nerve fibers. Administration of the NE reuptake blocker desipramine did not prevent LP-BM5-induced NE depletion, suggesting that destruction is not caused by excess release and reuptake of NE. Elucidating the mechanism of MAIDS-induced sympathetic nerve destruction may provide insight into autonomic and peripheral neuropathies reported in people with AIDS.