title: Norepinephrine-deficient mice lack responses to antidepressant drugs, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
abstract: Mice unable to synthesize norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine due to targeted disruption of the dopamine beta-hydroxylase gene, Dbh, were used to critically test roles for NE in mediating acute behavioral changes elicited by different classes of antidepressants. To this end, we used the tail suspension test, one of the most widely used paradigms for assessing antidepressant activity and depression-related behaviors in normal and genetically modified mice. Dbh(-/-) mice failed to respond to the behavioral effects of various antidepressants, including the NE reuptake inhibitors desipramine and reboxetine, the monoamine oxidase inhibitor pargyline, and the atypical antidepressant bupropion, even though they did not differ in baseline immobility from Dbh(+/-) mice, which have normal levels of NE. Surprisingly, the effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine, sertraline, and paroxetine were also absent or severely attenuated in the Dbh(-/-) mice. In contrast, citalopram (the most selective SSRI) was equally effective at reducing immobility in mice with and without NE. Restoration of NE by using L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine reinstated the behavioral effects of both desipramine and paroxetine in Dbh(-/-) mice, thus demonstrating that the reduced sensitivity to antidepressants is related to NE function, as opposed to developmental abnormalities resulting from chronic NE deficiency. Microdialysis studies demonstrated that the ability of fluoxetine to increase hippocampal serotonin was blocked in Dbh(-/-) mice, whereas citalopram's effect was only partially attenuated. These data show that NE plays an important role in mediating acute behavioral and neurochemical actions of many antidepressants, including most SSRIs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cryan
authors.forename: Olivia F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: Sung-Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Julie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Friedland
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Bradford R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: Michelle E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Ashutosh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalvi
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Irwin
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lucki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015283:Citalopram / Q000494:pharmacology; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology; D003891:Desipramine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015103:Droxidopa / Q000494:pharmacology; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000494:pharmacology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D051379:Mice; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000172:deficiency*; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000077593:Reboxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020280:Sertraline / Q000494:pharmacology; D013623:Tail / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D015283:Citalopram; D003891:Desipramine; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; D015103:Droxidopa; D005473:Fluoxetine; D009025:Morpholines; D009638:Norepinephrine; D017374:Paroxetine; D000077593:Reboxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D020280:Sertraline