Antidepressants Attenuate Increased Susceptibility to Colitis in a Murine Model of Depression

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Depression and Anxiety

“…In spite of this, in a study of Piche et al (34) not seeing inflammation in colon mucosa in patients only with depression and contrary to this seeing inflammation in IBS patients with depressive complaints, interpreted as stress alone is not sufficient to trigger inflammation. Thus in a mouse study carried out by Varghese et al (38) Similar results were obtained, and susceptibility to inflammation could be improved with antidepressants.…”

Depression and anxiety in inflammatory bowel disease: A review of comorbidity and management

“…However, any conclusions regarding direct benefit of antidepressant medication on IBD over and above the impact on the psychiatric condition is significantly restricted as findings were based on only 20 patients collectively. Preliminary work in animal studies, however, has suggested a protective role for antidepressants in mouse models of colitis 13,112 holding out the possibility that antidepressants may affect the disease process directly.…”

Impaired parasympathetic function increases susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease in a mouse model of depression

“…We recently provided proof of concept that depressive-like behavior is associated with an exaggerated response to inflammatory stimuli in the gut, using a murine model of maternal separation (MS) (7). We have also demonstrated that the vagus nerve provides tonic inhibition of acute inflammation in a murine model of colitis (20).…”

“…It is therefore unclear whether depression is an epiphenomenon that occurs as a result of the disease, or whether depression may play a role in facilitating the expression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a recent study, we showed that mice subjected to maternal deprivation develop a behavioral pattern reminiscent of depression and are more susceptible to inflammation (7). However, the underlying mechanism is unknown.…”