ArticlePharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior2009
Lovastatin potentiates the antidepressant efficacy of fluoxetine in rats.
Article in Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Statins in Depression: An Evidence-Based Overview of Mechanisms and Clinical Studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Serotonin Signaling through Lipid Membranes.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2024Review
- The pharmacological bases for repurposing statins in depression: a review of mechanistic studies.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
- Review
- Review
- Attenuative Effects of Fluoxetine andMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Atorvastatin ameliorates depressive behaviors and neuroinflammatory in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.Psychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Effect of caloric restriction on depression.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2018Review
- Cholesterol binding to a conserved site modulates the conformation, pharmacology, and transport kinetics of the human serotonin transporter.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2018Article
- Depressive-like behaviors in a rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.Translational stroke research · 2015Article
- Factors influencing behavior in the forced swim test.Physiology & behavior · 2013Review
- Vascular growth factors in neuropsychiatry.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2013Review
- Single molecule analysis of serotonin transporter regulation using antagonist-conjugated quantum dots reveals restricted, p38 MAPK-dependent mobilization underlying uptake activation.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2012Article
- Cocaine use in the past year is associated with altitude of residence.Journal of addiction medicine · 2012Article
- Behavioral interactions of simvastatin and fluoxetine in tests of anxiety and depression.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCholesterol may have a role in the pathophysiology of depression. Lowering cholesterol levels with statins reduces risks for cardiovascular events, and there is clinical evidence that statins exert neuroprotective properties not fully explained by their effects on serum cholesterol levels. Altered cholesterol levels can affect serotonergic neurotransmission, which might be involved in the clinical efficacy of standard antidepressants.
methodsWe examined interactions between a statin (lovastatin) and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (fluoxetine) using the forced swim test (FST) in rats, a behavioral assay that identifies treatments with antidepressant effects in humans. Specifically, we determined if the addition of lovastatin to the diet would increase the efficacy of a subeffective dose of fluoxetine.
resultsRats maintained on a lovastatin-enriched diet for 30 days were more sensitive to the antidepressant-like effects of a low (subthreshold) dose of fluoxetine. The behavior of rats treated with this combination resembled that normally seen with higher doses of fluoxetine. No effects were observed in rats maintained on a lovastatin-enriched diet for 3 days.
conclusionsLovastatin can augment the antidepressant-like effects of a low dose of fluoxetine in rats, raising the possibility that statins could be used to facilitate the effects of antidepressants in humans.
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Registered trials
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.