Background
Brain phospholipid metabolism and membrane fluidity may be involved in the pathophysiology
of mood disorders. We showed previously that cytidine, which increases phospholipid
synthesis, has antidepressant-like effects in the forced swim test (FST) in rats,
a model used in depression research. Because cytidine and uridine both stimulate synthesis
of cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine (CDP-choline, a critical substrate for phospholipid
synthesis), we examined whether uridine would also produce antidepressant-like effects
in rats. We also examined the effects of omega-3 fatty acids (OMG), which increase
membrane fluidity and reportedly have antidepressant effects in humans, alone and
in combination with uridine.
Methods
We first examined the effects of uridine injections alone and dietary supplementation
with OMG alone in the FST. We then combined sub-effective treatment regimens of uridine
and OMG to determine whether these agents would be more effective if administered
together.
Results
Uridine dose-dependently reduced immobility in the FST, an antidepressant-like effect.
Dietary supplementation with OMG reduced immobility when given for 30 days, but not
for 3 or 10 days. A sub-effective dose of uridine reduced immobility in rats given
sub-effective dietary supplementation with OMG.
Conclusions
Uridine and OMG each have antidepressant-like effects in rats. Less of each agent
is required for effectiveness when the treatments are administered together.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 25, 2005
Accepted:
November 22,
2004
Received in revised form:
November 15,
2004
Received:
August 20,
2004
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
