Volume 1, Issue 3 (Autumn 2015)                   Caspian J Neurol Sci 2015, 1(3): 1-10 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


1- Experimental Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3- Experimental Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; dehpour@yahoo.com
Abstract:   (5767 Views)

Background: In some disorders such as diabetes mellitus patients can display depressive symptoms. Metformin is among the first-line treatments for management of the type 2 diabetes mellitus which may have some anti-depressant effect. Objective: Current investigation was performed to examine the anti-depressant effects of metformin and the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in this way, in an experimental animal model of cholestasis in NMRI (Naval Medical Research Institute) mice. Materials and Methods: Bile duct ligated (BDL) and sham-operated mice were forced to swim separately and the effect of metformin on immobility time in the last 4 minutes of the 6 minutes test was assessed. To evaluate the probable participation of NO, N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) a non-specific NO synthase inhibitor and aminoguanidine, a specific iNO synthase inhibitor were injected acutely to metformin-treated BDL mice and then their immobility time was calculated in forced swimming test (FST). Results: The immobility time significantly reduced after bile-duct ligation and metformin-treatment decreased this time additionally. L-NAME but not amino-guanidine administration significantly inhibited antidepressant like property of metformin in BDL mice. We have displayed that NO overproduction by metformin in cholestatic mice produce an anti-depressant like effect, causing a decrease in the mice immobility time in FST. Conclusion: Metformin pretreatment can decrease depression in cholestatic mice through an NO dependent pathway.

Full-Text [PDF 879 kb]   (2237 Downloads) |   |   Full-Text (HTML)  (2298 Views)  
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2015/10/6 | Accepted: 2015/10/6 | Published: 2015/10/6

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.