Investigation of variation in serum bdnf levels in depression model of rats treated with bupropion.

Atefe Vaghei ahmad abadi,1 Mahsa hadipour jahromi,2 Farshad hashemian,3,*

1. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2. Herbal Pharmacology Research center, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction

Depression is a psychiatric disorder associated with depressed mood and loss of interest in activities. previous studies have suggested that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf), a member of neurotrophins family, might play a key role in neuroplasticity and pathophysiology of depression. despite of both acceptable therapeutic and adverse effects profile, the exact mechanism action of bupropion, an atypical antidepressant drug, is still unclear. the present study was designed to evaluate the effects of chronic bupropion treatment on depressive-like behavior in animal model of depression and assessment of serum bdnf levels.

Methods

Initially, the doses of 15, 30 and 60 mg/kg/day of bupropion were administered orally to adult male wistar rats for 21 days. at the end of treatment period, the behavioral tests named forced swimming test (fst) and tail suspension test (tst) were performed. finally, the bdnf serum levels was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) method.

Results

In the fst and tst, the dose of 60mg/kg of bupropion significantly reduced immobility time compared to control group (p value˂0.05 for both tests). moreover, significant increase in serum bdnf levels at the doses of 15, 30 and 60 mg/kg/day of bupropion in comparison to control group was reported. (p value<0.05, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively)

Conclusion

According to our results, decreased immobility time in fst and tst were correlated with increased serum bdnf levels; it can be recommended that enhanced bdnf concentration in serum might be consider as a biomarker of antidepressant action of bupropion. in the future, the potential ability of bdnf as a biomarker for diagnosis of depression and treatment response to existing drugs can be highlighted.

Keywords

Neurotrophic factor, serum, depression, rat, bupropion.