Antidepressant-like effect of N-type calcium channel antagonist, Ziconotide in rats

Background and Aim : Unlike other calcium channel blockers (T and L-type), there is no clear study on the antidepressant effect of ziconotide in animals and clinical trials. So the aim of the current study was to investigate the antidepressant-like effect of ziconotide as a neuronal calcium channel blocker in ratsMethods : Male rats weighing 200-250 g were used in this study. In animals, in order to induction of mild depression, rats were exposed to a limited diet and high density in their cages (20 rats in a 10 rats capacity standard cage) for a week. Rats were injected intracerebroventricular (ICV), acutely (a single dose) and chronically (3 doses once daily for a week) with ziconotide, undergoing stereotaxic surgery and then FST test was performed. Immediately after the behavioral test, the animals were decapitated and their hippocampi were removed and prepared for evaluation of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) using ELISA kitResults : Duration of immobility in the group receiving chronic doses of ziconotide (0.1, 0.3 and 1 μg / rat), was significantly lower than the control groups (P <0.01). Also, latency to immobility following all chronic doses of ziconotide was significantly higher than the control group (P <0.05). Furthermore, control group had lower hippocampal BDNF levels compared to the treated animals with chronic doses of ziconotide (P <0.05). A single dose of ziconotide (1 μg/rat) had no significant changes in any above parametersConclusion : Ziconotide can reduce the symptoms of depression in rats probably through elevating the hippocampal BDNF concentration.

Keywords:

Ziconotide , Depression , BDNF , Rat