A comparative study to the effect of tianeptine and fluoxetine on open-field behaviour and serum corticosterone concentration

Abstract

Objective To compare the effect of tianeptine and fluoxetine on behaviour and serum corticosterone concentration changes induced by stress and its antidepression mechanism. Methods 33 rats were randomly allocated into control(n ＝6), 4 week-stress with saline(n ＝6), 4 week-stress with tianeptine(n ＝6)and 4 week-stress with fluoxetine (n ＝15) groups.Forced swimming test was used to set up stress animal model,and open-field test was used to assess the behavior,then concentration of serum corticosterone was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays(ELIA). Results The number of crossing and standing up of 4 week-stress with fluoxetine group[(73.53±43.66),(10.00±11.14)] were much higher than 4 week-stress with saline group[(7.67±3.01),P ＜0.01;(0.67±0.82),P ＜0.05],while no difference was found compared with control group and 4 week-stress with tianeptine group; the number of stool of 4 week-stress with fluoxetine [(3.40±2.47),P ＜0.01]and 4 week-stress with saline group[(3.17±3.19),P ＜0.05] were much lower than control group(7.00±1.79), while no difference was found compared with 4 week-stress with tianeptine group(4.67±2.34). Concentration of serum corticosterone of control group[(191.60±116.41)ng/ml] and 4 week-stress with fluoxetine group[(315.49±146.35)ng/ml] were both much lower than 4 week-stress with saline group[(765.37±250.87)ng/ml,P ＜0.01] and 4 week-stress with tianeptine group[(863.49±282.31)ng/ml,P ＜0.01].There was no difference when compared with the concentration of serum corticosterone of control group and 4 week-stress with fluoxetine group, while no difference was found when compared with 4 week-stress with saline group and 4 week-stress with tianeptine group. Conclusions Both tianeptine and fluoxetine can reverse stress-induced behavior changes, and the fluoxetine is even better to improve the depression induced by stress;meanwhile the effect of reverse the level of serum corticosterone concentration of fluoxetine is much higher than tianeptine. Key words: Stress; Corticosterone; Behavior; Tianeptine; Fluoxetine