Pharmacological inhibition of the lateral habenula improves depressive-like behavior in an animal model of treatment resistant depression.
Identifying new treatment approaches for treatment resistant depression (TRD) is an important topic for translational psychiatry. Functional inhibition of the lateral habenula (LHb) has recently been claimed to offer such an option for TRD. Rats which are bred for high susceptibility to develop learned helplessness provide a genetic model for TRD. We used the gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist muscimol to inhibit the LHb in Sprague-Dawley rats with congenital learned helplessness (cLH). Stereotactic pharmacological inhibition of the LHb exerted antidepressive effects in treatment resistant cLH rats.
Winter
C
C
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Vollmayr
B
B
Djodari-Irani
A
A
Klein
J
J
Sartorius
A
A
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019262:Habenula / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006380:Helplessness, Learned; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol