title: Effects of brief pulse and ultrabrief pulse electroconvulsive stimulation on rodent brain and behaviour in the corticosterone model of depression.
abstract: Brief pulse electroconvulsive therapy (BP ECT; pulse width 0.5-1.5 ms) is the most effective treatment available for severe depression. However, its use is associated with side-effects. The stimulus in ultrabrief pulse ECT (UBP ECT; pulse width 0.25-0.3 ms) is more physiological and has been reported to be associated with less cognitive side-effects, but its antidepressant effectiveness is not yet well established. Using electroconvulsive stimulation (ECS), the animal model of ECT, we previously reported UBP ECS to be significantly less effective than well-established BP ECS in eliciting behavioural, molecular and cellular antidepressant-related effects in naïve rats. We have now compared the effects of BP and UBP ECS in an animal model of depression related to exogenous supplementation with the stress-induced glucocorticoid hormone, corticosterone. Corticosterone administration resulted in an increase in immobility time in the forced swim test (FST) (p < 0.01) and decreases in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (p < 0.05) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) (p < 0.001) in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. There was no significant difference in the duration or type of seizure induced by BP (0.5 ms) or UBP (0.3 ms) ECS. UBP ECS proved to be as effective as BP ECS at inducing a behavioural antidepressant response in the FST with a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in immobility seen following administration of ECS. Both forms of ECS also induced significant increases in BDNF protein (p < 0.01) expression in the hippocampus. BP ECS (p < 0.05) but not UBP ECS induced a significant increase in GFAP levels in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. Overall, UBP ECS effectively induced antidepressant-related behavioural and molecular responses in the corticosterone supplementation model, providing the first preclinical data on the potential role of this form of ECS to treat a depression phenotype related to elevated corticosterone.
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience,Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2,Ireland.
authors.forename: Sinead
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Donovan
authors.affiliation: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience,Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2,Ireland.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences & Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience,Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2,Ireland.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harkin
authors.affiliation: St. Patrick's University Hospital & Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience,Trinity College Dublin,Ireland.
authors.forename: Declan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: McLoughlin
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000187:drug effects; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000633:toxicity*; D003863:Depression / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013550:Swimming / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003345:Corticosterone