title: Antidepressant-like action of nicardipine, verapamil and hemicholinium-3 injected into the anterior hypothalamus in the rat forced swim test.
abstract: Male Wistar rats, chronically implanted with cannulas into the anterior hypothalamus, were acutely injected with the calcium channel inhibitors, diltiazem, nicardipine and verapamil, or the choline uptake blocker hemicholinium-3 and tested in the forced swim test. Hemicholinium-3, nicardipine and verapamil markedly increased the duration of active swimming. This antidepressant-like effect did not appear to reflect merely a hyperactive state as the drug-treated rats did not differ from vehicle-injected controls in their open field motility scores. Diltiazem failed to influence rats' performance in either test. Since nicardipine and verapamil, but not diltiazem, share choline uptake property with hemicholinium-3, it seems that this action plays a role in the antidepressant-like effect of all three drugs in the forced swim test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bidzinski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jankowska
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pucilowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004110:Diltiazem / Q000494:pharmacology; D006426:Hemicholinium 3 / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007032:Hypothalamus, Anterior; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects*; D009529:Nicardipine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014700:Verapamil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D006426:Hemicholinium 3; D014700:Verapamil; D009529:Nicardipine; D004110:Diltiazem