Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association  1999;38(5):1071-1076

Effect of Sertraline on the Regulation of Serotonin Transporter mRNA Levels in Rat Brain.

Chang Yoon KIM 1 ; Seong Yoon KIM ; Jin Pyo HONG ; Chul LEE ; On You HWANG ; Oh Su HAN

Affiliations

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Keywords

Sertraline; Serotonin transporter; In situ hybridization

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

The knowledge of gene regulation of serotonin transporter mRNA may provide clues to understanding how antidepressants affect their therapeutic actions. Recently, the effects of antidepressants on the serotonin transporter have been investigated but yielded controversial results. To study this further, we performed in situ hybridization for serotonin transporter mRNA in rats(treatment group, n=5)receiving long term(14 days)treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibiting antidepressant, sertraline(10mg/kg, i.p) Following sertraline treatment, a significant(p<0.05)ncrease in hybridization of serotonin transporter mRNA was observed compared to that observed in vehicle-treated rats(control group, n=5) This result may be interpreted as a compensatory mechanism to reduce synaptic levels of serotonin which were increased by long term sertraline treatment.