title: Triiodothyronine potentiation of antidepressant-induced reversal of learned helplessness in rats.
abstract: Several clinical investigations have suggested that a special relationship exists between thyroid function and affective disorders and/or therapeutic response to antidepressants. The present report describes that the reversal by antidepressants (imipramine, desipramine, and nomifensine) of depressive-like behavior in rats (escape deficits produced by previous exposure to uncontrollable stress) was significantly hastened in animals given daily triiodothyronine (T3). The learned helplessness paradigm might be a useful model for approaching in animals the neurohormonal correlates of affective disorders and the neurobiochemical bases of the reported T3 enhancement of antidepressants.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D003891:Desipramine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000187:drug effects; D006380:Helplessness, Learned / Q000523:psychology*; D007099:Imipramine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009627:Nomifensine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014284:Triiodothyronine; D009627:Nomifensine; D007099:Imipramine; D003891:Desipramine