Effects of neuronal and inducible NOS inhibitor 1-[2-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl] imidazole (TRIM) in unpredictable chronic mild stress procedure in mice

Nitric oxide is an intracellular messenger which is involved in several functions and pathologies such as depression, anxiety, learning and memory. In many studies nitric oxide synthase inhibitors (NOSI) were shown to possess antidepressant-like effects in animal models of depression. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a selective neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor TRIM (30 mg/kg/day. 35 days) in mice subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress and then compare it's effect with a conventional selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (15 mg/kg/day, 35 days). Stressed vehicle animals showed a significant disturbed coat state when compared with nonstressed animals and this effect was reversed by TRIM or fluoxetine. Both TRIM and fluoxetine prevented the stress-induced deficit in the grooming behaviour in the splash test. TRIM and fluoxetine also significantly decreased the attack frequency when compared to the stressed control group in the resident-intruder test. These results support the assumption that NOS inhibitors can be a new class of antidepressant drugs possibly acting on neuronal NOS. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.