title: Effect of chronic olanzapine treatment on nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the rat brain.
abstract: Nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are proteins involved in neuronal survival, neurite outgrowth and synapse formation. Recent observations suggest that treatment with typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs affect NGF and BDNF levels in the rat brain. The atypical antipsychotic olanzapine has a low incidence of side effects, such as extrapyramidal and anticholinergic symptoms. Since NGF and BDNF are involved in the regulation of cholinergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) we hypothesized that chronic olanzapine treatment will influence the distribution of NGF and BDNF in the rat brain. To test this hypothesis we administered olanzapine for 29 days in the drinking water at the doses of 3 and 15 mg/kg body weight and measured the levels of NGF and BDNF in the brain of Wistar rats. Olanzapine increased NGF in the hippocampus, occipital cortex and hypothalamus. In contrast, olanzapine decreased BDNF in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Although the significance of these findings is not clear, a heuristic hypothesis is that olanzapine's clinical effects and a favorable side effect profile are in part mediated by neurotrophins.
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, NEUROTEC Department, Karolinska University Hospital-Huddinge, Psychiatry, SE-14186 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Angelucci
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aloe
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iannitelli
authors.forename: Susanne H M
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.forename: Aleksander A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mathé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000077152:Olanzapine; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D000077152:Olanzapine