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Up-regulation of β1-adrenergic receptors in rat brain after chronic citalopram and fluoxetine treatments

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Abstract

Quantitative receptor autoradiography was used to study the effects of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors citalopram and fluoxetine and the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine on the regulation of β1-adrenergic receptors in the rat brain. Rats were treated with saline, citalopram (10 mg kg−1), fluoxetine (10 mg kg−1), or imipramine (15 mg kg−1) SC once daily for 14 days. [125I]Iodocyanopindolol binding to β1-adrenergic receptors was found to increase significantly in the caudate-putamen and the somatosensory areas of the frontal cortex after both citalopram and fluoxetine treatments. Imipramine treatment elicited a marked decrease in β1 binding in the outer laminae of the cingulate cortex, as well as in the motor and somatosensory areas of the frontal cortex. In a separate experiment, rats were treated with saline, citalopram (2.5, 10 and 20 mg kg−1) or fluoxetine (2.5, 10 and 20 mg kg−1) SC once daily for 14 days. The effects of citalopram and fluoxetine on β1 receptors in the somatosensory cortex and caudate-putamen were replicated. These results demonstrate that chronic administration of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, in contrast to imipramine, can cause a regional up-regulation of β1-adrenergic receptors in the rat brain.

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Pälvimäki, EP., Laakso, A., Kuoppamäki, M. et al. Up-regulation of β1-adrenergic receptors in rat brain after chronic citalopram and fluoxetine treatments. Psychopharmacology 115, 543–546 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245579

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245579

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