Effects of chronic administration of antidepressant drugs on central serotonergic receptor mechanisms
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks January 1, 1983 Sven Ove Ögren, Kjell Fuxé, Odd‐geir Berge et al. 11 citations
Chronic treatment with three antidepressants—desipramine, imipramine, and zimelidine—altered behavioral responses to serotonin (5-HT) agonists in rats, with effects depending on agonist dose and the behavior measured. At a high dose of the 5-HT agonist 5-MeO-DMT (4 mg/kg), all three drugs reduced head twitches, while at a low dose (1 mg/kg) or with a low dose of the 5-HT precursor 5-HTP (12.5 mg/kg), head twitches increased. Zimelidine and imipramine enhanced hyperlocomotion at the high agonist dose but reduced it at the low dose. Long-term zimelidine treatment produced subsensitivity in avoidance learning but enhanced responses in the tail-flick test, though overall it shortened response latency, suggesting decreased 5-HT activity.