Flouxetine treatment acts selectively increasing myocardial beta(1)-adrenoceptor mRNA expression in stress-induced depression

Abstract

Changes in gene expression of beta(i)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptors (beta(1)- and beta(2)-AR) in right and left atria and ventricles after fluoxetine treatment in stress-induced depression of adult rat males were studied. Elevated beta(1)-AR mRNA levels in the left atria and significantly higher levels of beta(2)-AR mRNA in the left atria and ventricles were observed in stress-induced depression in comparison with those of unstressed controls. Fluoxetine treatment led to increasing expression of beta(1)-AR mRNA in the right atria and left ventricles, while the level of beta(2)-AR mRNA remained unchanged. These findings suggest that fluoxetine therapy plays an important role in cardiac beta-adrenergic subsensitivity and gene regulation of beta-AR in animals with heightened sympathetic nervous activity.