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Abstract
Adult neurogenesis occurs in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. New neurons help to counteract the effects of stress and several interventions including antidepressant drugs, environmental modifications and internal factors act pro-neurogenic with consequences in the dorsal and ventral DG. Melatonin, the main product synthesized by the pineal gland, induces antidepressant-like effects and modulates several events of the neurogenic process. However, the information related to the capability of melatonin to modulate dendrite maturation and complexity in the dorsal and ventral regions of the DG and their correlation with its antidepressant-like effect is absent. Thus, in this study, we analyzed the impact of melatonin (0, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 or 10 mg/kg) administered daily for fourteen days on the number, dendrite complexity and distribution of doublecortin (DCX)-cells in the dorsal-ventral regions of the DG in male Balb/C mice. Doublecortin is a microtubule-associated protein that is expressed during the course of dendritic maturation of newborn neurons. Also, we analyzed the impact of melatonin on despair-like behavior in the forced swim test. We first found a significant increase in the number and higher dendrite complexity, mainly with the doses of 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg of melatonin (81%, 122%, 78%). These cells showed more complex dendritic trees in the ventral- and the dorsal- DG. Concomitantly, the doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg of melatonin decreased depressant-like behavior (76%, 82%). Finally, the data corroborate the antidepressant-like effect of melatonin and the increasing number of doublecortin-associated cells. Besides, the data indicate that melatonin favors the number and dendrite complexity of DCX-cells in the dorsal- and ventral- region of the DG, which may explain part of the antidepressant-like effect of melatonin.
Highlights
IntroductionThe neurogenic process is affected by animal models of stress [2,3]
Hippocampal neurogenesis occurs in the dentate gyrus (DG) of mammals, including humans [1]
Melatonin Increases the Number of Doublecortin-Associated Cells in the Dentate Gyrus
Summary
The neurogenic process is affected by animal models of stress [2,3]. Some events of this process are altered in humans diagnosed with depression [4,5]. Depression is a multifactorial neuropsychiatric disorder affecting a high proportion of human around the world [6,7]. Several attempts have been established to counteract depression being the pharmacological therapy the first line of treatment. Antidepressant drugs have shown their pro-neurogenic potential and their capability to revert depressive behavior [8,9,10,11,12]. In recent years, it has been proposed that some molecules or environmental interventions, such as physical activity, cognitive enrichment or internal factors may act as an adjuvant for treatment of depression [13,14]
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