Long-term administration of atropine, imipramine, and viloxazine alters responsiveness of rat cortical neurones to acetylcholine.
Rats were treated daily with atropine (2.5 mg/kg), imipramine (5 mg/kg), viloxazine (5 mg/kg), or saline for 14 days. Thirty-six hours following the final injection the rats were anaesthetized with urethane and the sensitivity of neurones in the somatosensory cortex to iontophoretically applied acetylcholine (ACh) was determined. In saline-treated animals the large majority of neurones was excited by ACh with depression being observed infrequently. This was reversed in drug-treated animals, the predominant response to iontophoretic ACh becoming one of depression. The results indicate that long-term administration of antidepressant drugs may induce qualitative changes in the sensitivity of central cholinergic systems.
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects*; D005971:Glutamates / Q000494:pharmacology; D007099:Imipramine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects*; D014745:Viloxazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
D005971:Glutamates; D009025:Morpholines; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D014745:Viloxazine; D001285:Atropine; D000109:Acetylcholine; D007099:Imipramine