Chronic stress impairment of prefrontal cortex energy metabolism is related to gender and can not be ameliorated by antidepresant fluoxetine

Abstract

The activity of cytochrome c oxidase correlates with neuronal functional activity and is considered as an ideal marker for examining the effects of antidepressant treatment on brain metabolism. We investigated gender specific effects of antidepressant fluoxetine on cytochrome c oxidase activity in the mitochondria of prefrontal cortex (PFC) of chronically isolated female and male Wistar rats. Our results showed that chronic psychosocial isolation (CPSI) increased cytochrome c oxidase activity in female PFC, while in males, this activity was decreased. Fluoxetine treatment did not normalize cytochrome c oxidase activity in either CPSI females or CPSI males. Our data suggest that the pattern of PFC energy metabolism impairment by CPSI is related to gender, but that fluoxetine treatment was unable to ameliorate these defects.