Previous studies have demonstrated that stress may affect the hippocampal GABAergic system. Here, we examined whether long-term psychosocial stress influenced the number of parvalbumin-containing GABAergic cells, known to provide the most powerful inhibitory input to the perisomatic region of principal cells. Adult male tree shrews were submitted to 5 weeks of stress, after which immunocytochemical and quantitative stereological techniques were used to estimate the total number of hippocampal parvalbuminimmunoreactive (PV-IR) neurons. Stress significantly decreased the number of PV-IR cells in the dentate gyrus (DG) (À33%), CA2 (À28%), and CA3 (À29%), whereas the CA1 was not affected. Additionally, we examined whether antidepressant treatment offered protection from this stress-induced effect. We administered fluoxetine (15 mg/kg per day) and SLV-323 (20 mg/kg per day), a novel neurokinin 1 receptor (NK 1 R) antagonist, because the NK 1 R has been proposed as a possible target for novel antidepressant therapies. Animals were subjected to a 7-day period of psychosocial stress before the onset of daily oral administration of the drugs, with stress continued throughout the 28-day treatment period. NK 1 R antagonist administration completely prevented the stress-induced reduction of the number of PV-IR interneurons, whereas fluoxetine attenuated this decrement in the DG, without affecting the CA2 and CA3. The effect of stress on interneuron numbers may reflect real cell loss; alternatively, parvalbumin concentration is diminished in the neurons, which might indicate a compensatory attempt. In either case, antidepressant treatment offered protection from the effect of stress and appears to modulate the hippocampal GABAergic system. Furthermore, the NK 1 R antagonist SLV-323 showed neurobiological efficacy similar to that of fluoxetine.

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Combined dopamine D 2 receptor antagonism and serotonin (5-HT) 1A receptor agonism may improve efficacy and alleviate some side effects associated with classical antipsychotics. The present study describes the in vitro and in vivo characterization of 1-(2,3-dihydrobenzo[1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-4-[5-(4-fluoro-phenyl)-pyridin-3-ylmethyl]-piperazine monohydrochloride (SLV313), a D 2/3 antagonist and 5-HT 1A agonist. SLV313 possessed high affinity at human recombinant D 2 , D 3 , D 4 , 5-HT 2B , and 5-HT 1A receptors, moderate affinity at 5-HT 7 and weak affinity at 5-HT 2A receptors, with little-no affinity at 5-HT 4 , 5-HT 6 , a 1 , and a 2 (rat), H 1 (guinea pig), M 1 , M 4 , 5-HT 3 receptors, and the 5-HT transporter. SLV313 had full agonist activity at cloned h5-HT 1A receptors (pEC 50 ¼ 9.0) and full antagonist activity at hD 2 (pA 2 ¼ 9.3) and hD 3 (pA 2 ¼ 8.9) receptors. In vivo, SLV313 antagonized apomorphine-induced climbing and induced 5-HT 1A syndrome behaviors and hypothermia, the latter behaviors being antagonized by the 5-HT 1A antagonist WAY100635. In a drug discrimination procedure SLV313 induced full generalization to the training drug flesinoxan and was also antagonized by WAY100635. In the nucleus accumbens SLV313 reduced extracellular 5-HT and increased dopamine levels in the same dose range. Acetylcholine and dopamine were elevated in the hippocampus and mPFCx, the latter antagonized by WAY100635, suggesting possible 5-HT 1A -dependent efficacy for the treatment of cognitive and attentional processes. SLV313 did not possess cataleptogenic potential (up to 60 mg/kg p.o.). The number of spontaneously active dopamine cells in the ventral tegmental area was reduced by SLV313 and clozapine, while no such changes were seen in the substantia nigra zona compacta following chronic administration. These results suggest that SLV313 is a full 5-HT 1A receptor agonist and full D 2/3 receptor antagonist possessing characteristics of an atypical antipsychotic, representing a potential novel treatment for schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology (2007) 32, 78-94.