title: Acetylsalicylic acid as an augmentation agent in fluoxetine treatment resistant depressive rats.
abstract: Clinical studies have reported that adjunctive acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) therapy is beneficial for patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD). However, there still exist negative epidemiological data on the link between aspirin and depression. Therefore, this study aimed to further investigate whether aspirin can be used as an augmentation agent in fluoxetine treatment resistant depressive rats induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). In this study, the effects of CUMS regimen and antidepressant treatment were assessed by behavioral testing, hippocampal expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)). 4-week fluoxetine treatment reversed the behavioral changes in approximately 70-80% depressive rats. That is, 20-30% depressive rats were resistant to fluoxetine. In the hippocampus of fluoxetine treatment resistant depressive rats, a significant upregulation of COX-2 level and PGE(2) concentration was observed. However, in these rats adjunctive aspirin treatment significantly improved the depressive behaviors and downregulated the COX-2 level and PGE(2) concentration in the hippocampus. Thus, our results suggest that aspirin can be served as an effective adjunctive agent in the treatment resistant depression mediated by inhibition of the COX-2 level and PGE(2) concentration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yang-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D005473:Fluoxetine; D001241:Aspirin