Effect of antidepressant drugs on 6-OHDA-treated mice in the FST

There is growing evidence suggesting that dopamine could be indirectly involved in the appearance of behavioural effects of antidepressants. In this study, we induced a partial (over 70%) and non-reversible depletion of dopamine-containing neurons in mice by i.c.v. infusion of 6-OHDA. Then, we compared the antidepressant- like effect of drugs (citalopram, paroxetine, desipramine and imipramine) with or without dopamine depletion in the mice forced swimming test. Our results clearly show that lesion with 6-OHDA does not modify the response of mice to desipramine and imipramine, whereas dopamine depletion abolished the antidepressant-like effect of citalopram and paroxetine. It could then be suggested that antidepressant- like effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (paroxetine and citalopram) in the mice FST requires the activation of dopaminergic pathways to occur. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.