Objective: To look at the long-term effects of Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and its neuroprotection potential in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) associated with non-motor symptoms.

Background: Non-motor symptoms such as anxiety, depression and cognitive deficits are commonly observed in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Although these neuropsychological dysfunctions precede the onset of motor symptoms by years, the underlying pathological alterations in the brain are poorly understood up to date. We have recently highlighted some dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus and in the striatum that may worsen non-motor symptoms associated with PD. Direct evidence to support the relationship between non-motor symptoms and neurodegeneration following dopaminergic degeneration is, therefore, pressing.

Method: A 14-day post-natal maternal separation protocol was applied to model early life stress followed by a unilateral intracerebral infusion of 6-hydroxydopamine to model some aspects of parkinsonism in rats. Maternally separated Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with Fluvoxamine before and after 6-hydroxydopamine infusion. The elevated plus-maze (EPM), the sucrose preference test (SPT) and the Morris Water Mater (MWM) test were used to evaluate anxiety/depressive-like symptoms and cognitive deficits symptoms respectively, The limb-use asymmetry test was used to access motor impairments. Blood plasma was collected to measure corticosterone levels, and brain tissues for dopamine and serotonin analysis.

Results: Fluvoxamine confirmed its anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in the EPM, the SPT, and in the MWM test. More importantly, Fluvoxamine protected the hippocampal, the pre-frontal cortex, and the striatal tissues against 6-hydroxydopamine toxicity resulting in less dopaminergic and serotonergic neuronal depletion.

Conclusion: Therefore, this study showed that long-term treatment with Fluvoxamine may be recommended to patients with early-onset PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effects-of-long-term-treatment-with-fluvoxamine-on-non-motor-symptoms-and-neurogenesis-in-an-early-post-natal-stress-rat-model-of-parkinsons-disease/