Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18923403›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2009

Postsynaptic alpha-2 adrenergic receptors are critical for the antidepressant-like effects of desipramine on behavior.

Han-Ting Zhang, Lisa R Whisler, Ying Huang, Yang Xiang, James M O'Donnell

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 58 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. αMolecular psychiatry · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. A rat model of volitional mutual social interactions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Are Noradrenergic Transmission Reducing Drugs Antidepressants?Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021
    Article
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  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Han-Ting ZhangDepartment of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, West Virginia University Health Sciences Center, Morgantown, WV 26506-9137, USA. hzhang@hsc.wvu.edu
Lisa R Whisler
Ying Huang
Yang Xiang
James M O'Donnell
West Virginia University · USUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · US

Funding

NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY OF CYCLIC AMP PDE INHIBITORSR01MH051175 · NIMH · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · PI O'DONNELL, JAMES M · 1995 to 2007
$2.3M
CENTRALLY ACTING BETA ADRENERGIC AGONISTSR01MH040694 · NIMH · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · PI O'DONNELL, JAMES M · 1985 to 2008
$2.1M
Monoamine Transporter Regulation and Antidepressant ActivityR56MH040694 · NIMH · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · PI O'DONNELL, JAMES M · 2009 to 2009
$366k
Central betal adrenergic receptors and behaviorR03MH072646 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCI CTR · PI ZHANG, HAN-TING · 2004 to 2004
$73k
NIMH NIH HHS MH040694NIMH NIH HHS MH051175NIMH NIH HHS MH072646NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH040694NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH051175NIMH NIH HHS R03 MH072646NIMH NIH HHS R56 MH040694
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The antidepressant desipramine inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine (NE), leading to activation of both pre- and postsynaptic adrenergic receptors, including alpha-1, alpha-2, beta-1, and beta-2 subtypes. However, it is not clear which adrenergic receptors are involved in mediating its antidepressant effects. Treatment of mice with desipramine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) produced an antidepressant-like effect, as evidenced by decreased immobility in the forced-swim test; this was antagonized by pretreatment with the alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist idazoxan (0.1-2.5 mg/kg, i.p.). Similarly, idazoxan, administered peripherally (0.5-2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) or centrally (1-10 microg, i.c.v.), antagonized the antidepressant-like effect of desipramine in rats responding under a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) 72-s schedule, ie, decreased response rate and increased reinforcement rate. By contrast, pretreatment with the beta-adrenergic antagonists propranolol and CGP-12177 or the alpha-1 adrenergic antagonist prazosin did not alter the antidepressant-like effect of desipramine on DRL behavior. The lack of involvement of beta-adrenergic receptors in mediating the behavioral effects of desipramine was confirmed using knockout lines. In the forced-swim test, the desipramine-induced decrease in immobility was not altered in mice deficient in beta-1, beta-2, or both beta-1 and beta-2 adrenergic receptors. In addition, desipramine (3-30 mg/kg) produced an antidepressant-like effect on behavior under a DRL 36-s schedule in mice deficient in both beta-1 and beta-2 adrenergic receptors. As antagonism of presynaptic alpha-2 adrenergic receptors facilitates NE release, which potentiates the effects of desipramine, the present results suggest that postsynaptic alpha-2 adrenergic receptors play an important role in its antidepressant effects.

Indexed as

Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor AntagonistsAdrenergic alpha-2 Receptor AntagonistsAdrenergic beta-AntagonistsAnimalsAntidepressive Agents, TricyclicDepressionDesipramineIdazoxanMaleMiceMice, KnockoutMotor ActivityPrazosinPropanolaminesPropranololRatsAdrenergic alpha-1 Receptor AntagonistsAdrenergic alpha-2 Receptor AntagonistsAdrenergic beta-AntagonistsAntidepressive Agents, TricyclicCGP 12177DesipramineIdazoxanPrazosinPropanolaminesPropranololReceptors, Adrenergic, alpha-1Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2Receptors, Adrenergic, beta

Identifiers

PMID18923403
PMCPMC2727683
OpenAlexW2159032443

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.