Impact of repeated asenapine treatment on FosB/ ΔFosB expression in the forebrain structures under normal conditions and mild stress preconditioning in the rat.

Impact of repeated asenapine treatment on FosB/ΔFosB expression in the forebrain structures under normal conditions and mild stress preconditioning in the rat.
Brain Res Bull. 2016 Aug 16;
Authors: Majercikova Z, Horvathova L, Osacka J, Pecenak J, Kiss A
Abstract
Long-term effect of asenapine (ASE), an atypical antipsychotic drug, on FosB/ΔFosB quantitative variations in the striatum, septum, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex, was light microscopically evaluated in normal rats and rats preconditioned with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CMS). CMS included restraint, social isolation, crowding, swimming, and cold. The rats were exposed to CMS for 21 days. From the 7th day of CMS, the rats were injected subcutaneously with saline (300μl/rat) or ASE (0.3mg/kg b.w.), twice a day for 14 days. On the 22nd day, i.e. 16-18h after the last treatment, the animals were perfused with fixative and the brains cut into 30μm thick coronal sections. FosB/ΔFosB protein was immunohistochemically visualized by avidin-biotin peroxidase complex (ABC). Four groups of animals were investigated: control+vehicle, control+ASE, CMS+vehicle, and CMS+ASE. Repeated ASE treatment significantly increased the amount of FosB/ΔFosB immunostained cell nuclei in the dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatum and the shell of the nucleus accumbens, followed by strVM and coACC, as assessed by numerical analysis in both total (different size for each structure) a...

Source: Brain Research Bulletin - August 15, 2016 Category: Neurology Authors: Majercikova Z, Horvathova L, Osacka J, Pecenak J, Kiss A Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research