Chronic electroconvulsive treatment enhances the density of [3H]prazosin binding sites in the central nervous system of the rat

Effect of repeated treatment with antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive shock (ECS) on [3H] prazosin binding to different rat brain structures

“…In accordance with the results reported by other authors (Campbell and McKernan, 1982;Vetulani et al, 1983Vetulani et al, , 1984Maj et al, 1985), we have demonstrated in the present study that repeated treatment with the antidepressant durgs imipramine, amitriptyline, mianserin and citalopram, as well as with ECS, enhances the density of al-adrenoceptors in the rat cerebral cortex. and KD values were calculated individually for each rat by the Scatchard analysis using 6 concentrations (ranging from 0.05 to 1.5 nM) of the ligand, performed in duplicates.…”

“…The increase in the density of cortical oq-adrenoceptors seems to be a slowly developing adaptive change, since it was not observed after acute treatment with those antidepressants (administered in a dose 3 times higher than in the repeated treatment) or ECS. It is noteworthy that --like after ECS (Vetulani et al, 1983) --also the imipramine-induced increase in the density of al-adrenoceptors in the cerebral cortex is a transient and reversible effect, as we observed it only at 24 but not 48 or 72 hrs after the last administration of the drug. On the basis of their results with ECS, Vetulani et al (1983) suggested that the up-regulation of ai-adrenoceptors is a general phenomenon in the central nervous system, as they observed it at different levels (cerebral cortex, spinal cord).…”

“…Later on, when [3H] prazosin (a selective al-adrenoceptor antagonist) was used as a ligand an increase in the density of ~-adrenoceptors was demonstrated. This effect, observed after administration of numerous typical and atypical antidepressant drugs or ECS, was found mainly in the cerebral cortex, though some of those treatments also produced it in the brainstem or spinal cord (Campbell and McKernan, 1982;Vetulani et al, 1983Vetulani et al, , 1984Maj et al, 1983Maj et al, , 1985; Klimek * This research was supported by the grant CPBP 06. 02.…”

Modulation by Mianserin Pretreatment of the Chronic Electroconvulsive Shock Effects on the Adrenergic System in the Cerebral Cortex of the Rat

“…Such a possibility is suggested by our earlier results concerning the action of mianserin . In fact, in the present experiment mianserin tends to increase the density of al-adrenoceptors in a manner similar to ECS, albeit in this experiment the ECS-induced changes were smaller than those reported previously by us as well as by others (Vetulani et al, 1983;Maj et al, 1984). The present data show, however, that a previous treatment with mianserin sensitizes the system to the action of ECS and that the treatment with ECS administered after mianserin treatment leads to a significant elevation of a I -adrenoceptor density.…”

Electroconvulsive treatment: Effects on phospholipase C activity and GTP binding activity in rat brain

“…A single ECT causes changes in serotonin turnover (Engel et al, 1971) and acetylcholine (ACh) levels (Longoni et al, 1976) in rat brain. Chronic ECT enhanced the density of al binding sites in rat cortex (Vetulani et al, 1983). Radioligand binding to 5-HT 2 receptors has been shown to increase after repeated ECT (Kellar et al, 1981).…”