Sex differences in the antidepressant-like potential of repeated electroconvulsive seizures in adolescent and adult rats: Regulation of the early stages of hippocampal neurogenesis
European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2020-12-01; 41: 132-145
DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.10.008
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García-Cabrerizo R(1), Ledesma-Corvi S(2), Bis-Humbert C(2), García-Fuster
MJ(3).
Author information:
(1)IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. de Valldemossa km 7.5,
E-07122 Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands
(IdISBa), Palma, Spain; Present address: APC Microbiome Ireland, University
College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
(2)IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. de Valldemossa km 7.5,
E-07122 Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands
(IdISBa), Palma, Spain.
(3)IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. de Valldemossa km 7.5,
E-07122 Palma, Spain; Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands
(IdISBa), Palma, Spain. Electronic address: .
Age and sex are critical factors for the diagnosis and treatment of major
depression, since there is a well-known age-by-sex difference in the prevalence
of major depression (being females the most vulnerable ones) and in
antidepressant efficacy (being adolescence a less responsive period than
adulthood). Although the induction of electroconvulsive seizures (ECS) is a very
old technique in humans, there is not much evidence reporting sex- and
age-specific aspects of this treatment. The present study evaluated the
antidepressant- and neurogenic-like potential of repeated ECS across time in
adolescent and adult rats (naïve or in a model of early life stress capable of
mimicking a pro-depressive phenotype), while including a sex perspective. The
main results demonstrated age- and sex-specific differences in the
antidepressant-like potential of repeated ECS, since it worked when administered
during adolescence or adulthood in male rats (although with a shorter length in
adolescence), while in females rendered deleterious during adolescence and
ineffective in adulthood. Yet, repeated ECS increased cell proliferation and
vastly boosted young neuronal survival in a time-dependent manner for both sexes
and independently of age. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of basal cell
proliferation prevented the antidepressant-like effect induced by repeated ECS
in male rats, but only partially blocked the very robust increase in the initial
cell markers of hippocampal neurogenesis. Overall, the present results suggest
that the induction of the early phases of neurogenesis by ECS, besides having a
role in mediating its antidepressant-like effect, might participate in some
other neuroplastic actions, opening the path for future studies.
Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.