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α2-adrenoceptor binding in Flinders-sensitive line compared with Flinders-resistant line and Sprague-Dawley rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2015

Thea Pinholt Lillethorup ,
Peter Iversen ,
Gregers Wegener ,
Doris Jeanne Marie Doudet  and
Anne Marlene Landau
Thea Pinholt Lillethorup
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University, Denmark Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience/MINDlab, Aarhus University, Denmark
Peter Iversen
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University, Denmark
Gregers Wegener
Affiliation:
Center for Psychiatric Research, Aarhus University, Denmark Centre for Pharmaceutical Excellence, School of Pharmacy (Pharmacology), North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
Doris Jeanne Marie Doudet
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University, Denmark Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience/MINDlab, Aarhus University, Denmark Department of Medicine/Neurology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Anne Marlene Landau*
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University, Denmark Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience/MINDlab, Aarhus University, Denmark
*
Dr. Anne M. Landau, Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, Aarhus University, Nørrebrogade 44, Building 10G, 8000Aarhus C, Denmark. Tel: +457 846 4378; Fax: +457 846 1662; E-mail: alandau@clin.au.dk
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Abstract

Objectives

Disturbances in the noradrenergic system, including alterations in the densities of α2-adrenoceptors, are posited to be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. In this study, we investigate the binding of α2-adrenoceptors in regions relevant to depression in an animal model of depression.

Methods

Using in vitro autoradiography techniques and the selective α2-ligand, [3H]RX 821002, we investigated the density of α2-adrenoceptors in female Flinders-sensitive line (FSL) rats, a validated model of depression, and in two traditional control groups – female Flinders-resistant line (FRL) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.

Results

The α2-adrenoceptor density was increased in most regions of the FSL rat brain when compared with SD rats (10% across regions). Moreover, the α2-adrenoceptor density was further increased in the FRL rats compared with both FSL (10% across regions) and SD rats (24% across regions).

Conclusions

The increase in α2-adrenoceptor binding in cortical regions in the FSL strain compared with the SD control strain is in accord with α2-adrenoceptor post-mortem binding data in suicide victims with untreated major depression. However, the differences in binding observed in the two control groups were unexpected and suggest the need for further studies in a larger cohort of animals of both sexes.

Keywords

adrenergic alpha-2 receptorautoradiographydepressionFlinders-resistant line ratsFlinders-sensitive line rats

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , December 2015 , pp. 345 - 352
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Copyright
© Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2015 

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