title: Oestradiol and mirtazapine restore the disturbed tail-temperature of oestrogen-deficient rats.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to further evaluate the tail-temperature test as a tool to test potential steroidal and non-steroidal compounds for the treatment of hot flushes. Ovariectomized rats were implanted with a temperature sensitive probe. After a recovery period of 5 weeks, the effect of oestradiol (given via a silastic tube) and the 5-HT(2) receptor antagonist mirtazapine (10 mg/kg i.p.) on the tail-temperature in the active phase of the animals was measured. Oestradiol completely restored the disturbed tail temperature after 3 days. Treatment with mirtazapine also restored the oestrogen withdrawal-induced disturbed tail-temperature. The effect of mirtazapine was already seen on the first day of treatment. These experiments confirm and extend the idea that measuring the oestradiol withdrawal-induced disturbance of tail-temperature may be a useful tool to select compounds that might have beneficial effects in the treatment of hot flushes. Blockade of the 5-HT(2A) receptors prevented or reduced the ovariectomy-induced disturbance of the rat tail-temperature, which may validate this model to evaluate the effect of compounds on hot flushes.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacology Department, N.V. Organon, P.O.B. 20, 5340 BH Oss, The Netherlands. hemmie.berendsen@organon.com
authors.forename: Hemmie H G
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Berendsen
authors.forename: Helenius J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kloosterboer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D008803:Mianserin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000078785:Mirtazapine; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D008803:Mianserin; D004958:Estradiol; D000078785:Mirtazapine