title: Tianeptine reverses stress-induced asymmetrical hippocampal volume and N-acetylaspartate loss in rats: an in vivo study.
abstract: Stress-induced hippocampal volume loss and decrease in N-acetylaspartate (NAA) level have been reported to be associated with impaired neural plasticity and neuronal damage in adults. Accordingly, reversing structural and metabolite damage in the hippocampus may be a desirable goal for antidepressant therapy. The present study investigated the effects of tianeptine on chronic stress-induced hippocampal volume loss and metabolite alterations in vivo in 24 Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were subjected to a consecutive 28-day forced swimming test stress. Tianeptine (50mg/kg) or saline was administered intragastrically 4h after swimming each day. Spontaneous behaviors, serum corticosterone concentration, hippocampal volume and NAA level were evaluated after stress. Chronic tianeptine treatment counteracted the chronic stress-induced suppression of spontaneous behaviors, elevated serum corticosterone concentration, reduced hippocampal volume and decreased NAA level. Moreover, we found asymmetrical right-left hippocampal volume loss in stressed rats, with the left hippocampus more sensitive to chronic stress than the right hippocampus. In addition, stressed rats showed a decreased level of hippocampal metabolites, without significant loss of hippocampal volume. These findings provide experimental evidence for impaired structural plasticity of the brain being an important feature of depressive illness and suggest that prophylactic tianeptine treatments could reverse structural changes in brain. The structural and neurochemical alterations in the hippocampus may be valuable indexes for evaluating the prophylactic and curative effect of antidepressant treatments in depressive and stress-related disorders.
authors: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China; Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Medical School, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, Hubei, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Medical School, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, Hubei, China.
authors: Xi-Ji
authors: XJ
authors: Shu
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors: Fu-Yin
authors: FY
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors: Cheng
authors: C
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China.
authors: Xiao-Hai
authors: XH
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Medical School, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, Hubei, China.
authors: Li-Jiang
authors: LJ
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Medical School, Jianghan University, Wuhan, 430056, Hubei, China.
authors: Yong-Xun
authors: YX
authors: Ai
authors: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China; Department of Cardiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: li_yuguang45@163.com.
authors: Yu-Guang
authors: YG
authors: Li
authors: Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: hzhao@163.com.
authors: Hu
authors: H
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D011522:Protons; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D013841:Thiazepines / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D011522:Protons; D013841:Thiazepines; C050504:tianeptine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline; D003345:Corticosterone