Table 2. Long-lasting effect of chronic social defeat stress and chronic agomelatine on synaptic plasticity markers mRNA expression in the hippocampus.
| Gene | Control HEC | Stressed HEC | Stressed AGO | Control HEC vs Stressed HEC | Stressed HEC vs Stressed AGO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD-95 | 1.003 ± 0.018 | 0.9500 ± 0.022 | 1.019 ± 0.025 | n.s | n.s |
| Synaptophysin | 1.011 ± 0.038 | 0.8867 ± 0.048 | 0.9367 ± 0.035 | n.s | n.s |
| Spinophilin | 1.007 ± 0.029 | 1.020 ± 0.044 | 1.023 ± 0.031 | n.s | n.s |
| Synapsin I | 1.003 ± 0.019 | 0.9750 ± 0.029 | 1.008 ± 0.026 | n.s | n.s |
| MAP-2 | 1.003 ± 0.019 | 0.9236 ± 0.022 | 1.017 ± 0.337 | * | # |
The effects of CSDS and agomelatine treatment on hippocampal gene expression of synaptic plasticity markers were tested after 3 weeks of agomelatine (50 mg/kg/day, i.p.) treatment following 10 days of CSDS.
Neither CSDS nor chronic agomelatine modified PSD-95, Synaptophysin, Spinophilin and Synpasin I gene expression. However, mRNA expression of MAP-2 was decreased in stressed mice treated with vehicle compared with controls and stressed mice treated with agomelatine.
*p < 0.05 “Control HEC” vs “Stressed HEC”, #p < 0.05 “Stressed HEC” vs “Stressed AGO”, one-way ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons test.
Each result is expressed as the mean ± S.E.M. of n = 18 (control mice), 11 (stressed HEC mice) and 11 (stressed AGO mice).
AGO, agomelatine; HEC, hydroxyethylcellulose.