Corticosterone facilitates fluoxetine-induced neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus

PLoS One. 2013 May 10;8(5):e63662. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063662. Print 2013.

Abstract

The hippocampal dentate gyrus has been implicated in a neuronal basis of antidepressant action. We have recently shown a distinct form of neuronal plasticity induced by the serotonergic antidepressant fluoxetine, that is, a reversal of maturation of the dentate granule cells in adult mice. This "dematuration" is induced in a large population of dentate neurons and maintained for at least one month after withdrawal of fluoxetine, suggesting long-lasting strong influence of dematuration on brain functioning. However, reliable induction of dematuration required doses of fluoxetine higher than suggested optimal doses for mice (10 to 18 mg/kg/day), which casts doubt on the clinical relevance of this effect. Since our previous studies were performed in naive mice, in the present study, we reexamined effects of fluoxetine using mice treated with chronic corticosterone that model neuroendocrine pathophysiology associated with depression. In corticosterone-treated mice, fluoxetine at 10 mg/kg/day downregulated expression of mature granule cell markers and attenuated strong frequency facilitation at the synapse formed by the granule cell axon mossy fiber, suggesting the induction of granule cell dematuration. In addition, fluoxetine caused marked enhancement of dopaminergic modulation at the mossy fiber synapse. In vehicle-treated mice, however, fluoxetine at this dose had no significant effects. The plasma level of fluoxetine was comparable to that in patients taking chronic fluoxetine, and corticosterone did not affect it. These results indicate that corticosterone facilitates fluoxetine-induced plastic changes in the dentate granule cells. Our finding may provide insight into neuronal mechanisms underlying enhanced responsiveness to antidepressant medication in certain pathological conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Corticosterone / administration & dosage
  • Corticosterone / pharmacology*
  • Fluoxetine / pharmacology*
  • Hippocampus / drug effects*
  • Hippocampus / physiology*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Neuronal Plasticity / drug effects*
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Synaptic Transmission / drug effects

Substances

  • Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors
  • Fluoxetine
  • Corticosterone

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (to K.K. and H.S.), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from MEXT, Japan (22500342 and 23110519 to K.K.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.