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Augmentation therapy with alpha-lipoic acid and desvenlafaxine: A future target for treatment of depression?

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Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the possible antidepressant effects of the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) as a stand-alone treatment or in association with desvenlafaxine (DVS) in the chronic corticosterone (CORT)-induced depression model. The depression model was induced by repeated administrations of CORT (20 mg/kg, subcutaneous) in mice over a period of 14 days. Between days 15 and 21, a randomized group of mice received DVS (10 or 20 mg/kg, per os [PO]), ALA (100 or 200 mg/kg, PO), or a combination of DVS (10 or 20 mg/kg, PO) and ALA (100 or 200 mg/kg, PO) along with the CORT injections for the remaining 7 days. Other groups of mice received DVS (10 or 20 mg/kg, PO) or ALA (100 or 200 mg/kg, PO) alone. Open field test, elevated plus maze (EPM) test, tail suspension test (TST), and forced swimming test (FST) were carried out 1 h after the last injection of CORT. Repeated CORT injections induced anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors as observed by decreased open arms entries in the EPM test and increased immobility time in the TST and FST. The administration of DVS and ALA alone was able to reverse the increases in the immobility time. The combination of ALA and DVS potentiated the observed effects of DVS. These results suggest that augmentation therapy with the addition of antioxidant drugs may be an important pharmacological approach for the treatment of depression.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from FUNCAP—Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CAPES—Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, and CNPq—National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. The authors would also like to especially thank the team of American Manuscript Editors for the language editing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal University of Ceará, Rua Cel Nunes de Melo 1127, 60431-270, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Márcia Calheiros Chaves Silva, Caren Nádia Soares de Sousa, Luis Rafael Leite Sampaio, Naiara Coelho Ximenes, Francisca Cléa Florenço Sousa, Danielle Silveira Macêdo & Silvânia Maria Mendes Vasconcelos

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

    Paulo Victor Pontes Araújo, Jéssica Calheiros da Silva & Suzyana Lima de Oliveira

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  1. Márcia Calheiros Chaves Silva
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  10. Silvânia Maria Mendes Vasconcelos
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Correspondence to Silvânia Maria Mendes Vasconcelos.

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Silva, M.C.C., de Sousa, C.N.S., Sampaio, L.R.L. et al. Augmentation therapy with alpha-lipoic acid and desvenlafaxine: A future target for treatment of depression?. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 386, 685–695 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-013-0867-y

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