Objective: In this study, we investigated whether treatment of anxiety-like symptoms with Fluvoxamine maleate alleviates the neurotoxic effects of 6-OHDA in a Parkinsonian rat model.

Background: Exposure to early life stress has been shown to result in anxiety-like symptoms and to exacerbate dopamine degeneration in a model for Parkinson’s disease (PD). First line treatment for anxiety disorders includes the use of antidepressants such as Fluvoxamine maleate.

Methods: Early maternal separation was used to create a rat model that displays anxiety-like symptoms. Maternally separated adult Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with Fluvoxamine maleate prior to and following lesion with 6-OHDA. The elevated plus-maze (EPM) and the forelimb akinesia tests were used to evaluate anxiety-like symptoms and motor impairments, respectively, in the Parkinsonian rat model. Blood plasma was used to measure corticosterone concentration and striatal tissue was collected for dopamine and serotonin analysis.

Results: Our results showed that stressed animals displayed increased anxiety-like symptoms and high basal plasma corticosterone concentrations which were moderated by treatment with Fluvoxamine maleate. A 6-OHDA lesion effect was evidenced by impairment in the forelimb akinesia test as well as decreased dopamine and serotonin concentrations in the striatum. These effects were attenuated by Fluvoxamine maleate treatment in the pre-lesion treated rats but not in the post-lesion treated ones.

Conclusions: This study suggests that early treatment of anxiety-like behavior in PD may prolong dopamine neuron survival and hence protect against the onset of PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-effects-of-fluvoxamine-maleate-in-a-post-natal-stress-rat-model-of-neurodegeneration/