ININFA   02677
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES FARMACOLOGICAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
An enriched environment restores normal behavior while providing cytoskeletal restoration and synaptic changes in the hippocampus of rats exposed to an experimental model of depression.
Autor/es:
LAURA SIFONIOS, MARIELA TRINCHERO, MARINA CERESETO, ALEJANDRO FERRERO, MARÍA LAURA CLADOUCHOS, GEORGINA FERNANDEZ MACEDO, ANALÍA REINÉS, SILVIA WIKINSKI.
Revista:
NEUROSCIENCE
Editorial:
Elsevier Science
Referencias:
Año: 2009 vol. 00 p. 1 - 12
ISSN:
0306-4522
Resumen:
  The exposure of rats to an enriched environment (EE) shares several effects with antidepressant drugs. However, information about the mechanisms underlying these antidepressant-like actions in experimental models of depression is still scarce. The aim of this work was to evaluate the antidepressant-like effect of enriched environment in rats exposed to the learned helplessness paradigm (LH), a well-known model of the disease. Immunohistochemical labeling showed that 21 days of enriched environment reverted the helpless behavior observed in LH animals. This effect was accompanied by the normalization to control values of two structural proteins of hippocampal neurons: the light neurofilament subunit and the postsynaptic density 95 protein, which were decreased in LH animals housed in standard cages. The diminution of the presynaptic protein synaptophysin observed in LH animals remained unchanged after the exposure to enriched environment. Otherwise, there was no increase of neurogenesis measured by the quantification of double-labeled cells with 5-bromo-2L-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and the neuronal marker ƒÀ-Tubulin class III. These results obtained in animals exposed to an experimental model of depression show that enriched environment may have behavioral and synaptic remodelling properties that resemble those of antidepressant drugs. All these actions seem to be independent from neurogenesis.