Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26146014›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2015

Antidepressant-like effects of guanfacine and sex-specific differences in effects on c-fos immunoreactivity and paired-pulse ratio in male and female mice.

Yann S Mineur, Matthew P Bentham, Wen-Liang Zhou, Margreet E Plantenga, Sherry A McKee, Marina R Picciotto

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychopharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 35% 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

22 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  5. Medial prefrontal cortex acetylcholine signaling mediates the ability to learn an active avoidance response following learned helplessness training.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Are Noradrenergic Transmission Reducing Drugs Antidepressants?Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021
    Article
  9. Article
  10. αNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Dorsal BNST αThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2018
    Article
  20. Interaction between noradrenergic and cholinergic signaling in amygdala regulates anxiety- and depression-related behaviors in mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018
    Article
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

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Yann S MineurDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 34 Park Street-3rd floor research, New Haven, CT, 06508, USA.
Matthew P Bentham
Wen-Liang Zhou
Margreet E Plantenga
Sherry A McKee
Marina R Picciotto
Yale University · US

Funding

Cholinergic Contribution to Circuits Underlying DepressionR01MH077681 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI MINEUR, YANN SEBASTIEN, PICCIOTTO, MARINA R · 2006 to 2025
$7.0M
Yale SCOR on Gender-Sensitive Treatment for Tobacco DependenceP50DA033945 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI MCKEE, SHERRY ANN · 2012 to 2017
$6.5M
Nicotine and Food IntakeR01DA037566 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI PICCIOTTO, MARINA R · 2014 to 2018
$2.1M
Cholinergic Contribution to Circuits Guiding Behavioral Responses to StressorsRF1MH077681 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI YANN Sebastien MINEUR, Marina R Picciotto · 2026 to 2026
$838k
Cholinergic Pathways in DepressionR03MH105824 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI MINEUR, YANN SEBASTIEN · 2015 to 2016
$167k
NIDA NIH HHS P50 DA033945NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA037566NIMH NIH HHS MH077681NIMH NIH HHS MH105824NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH077681NIMH NIH HHS R03 MH105824NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH077681
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleThe a2A-noradrenergic agonist guanfacine can decreases stress-induced smoking in female, but not male, human smokers. It is not known whether these effects are due to effects on mood regulation and/or result from nicotinic-cholinergic interactions.

objectivesThe objective of the study was to determine whether there are sex differences in the effect of guanfacine in tests of anxiolytic and antidepressant efficacy in mice at baseline and in a hypercholinergic model of depression induced by the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine.

methodsThe effects of guanfacine were measured in the light/dark box, tail suspension, and the forced swim test in female and male C57BL/6J mice. In parallel, electrophysiological properties were evaluated in the prefrontal cortex, a critical brain region involved in stress responses. c-fos immunoreactivity was measured in other brain regions known to regulate mood.

resultsDespite a baseline sex difference in behavior in the forced swim test (female mice were more immobile), guanfacine had similar, dose-dependent, antidepressant-like effects in mice of both sexes (optimal dose, 0.15 mg/kg). An antidepressant-like effect of guanfacine was also observed following pre-treatment with physostigmine. A sex difference in the paired-pulse ratio in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (male, 1.4; female, 2.1) was observed at baseline that was normalized by guanfacine. Other brain areas involved in cholinergic control of depression-like behaviors, including the basolateral amygdala and lateral septum, showed sex-specific changes in c-fos expression.

conclusionsGuanfacine has a robust antidepressant-like effect and can reverse a depression-like state induced by increased acetylcholine (ACh) signaling. These data suggest that different brain areas are recruited in female and male mice, despite similar behavioral responses to guanfacine.

Indexed as

Sex CharacteristicsAnimalsAntidepressive AgentsBrainDepressionFemaleGuanfacineHeart RateHindlimb SuspensionMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPrefrontal CortexProto-Oncogene Proteins c-fosSwimmingTreatment OutcomeAntidepressive AgentsGuanfacineProto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos

Identifiers

PMID26146014
PMCPMC4561580
OpenAlexW754892082

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.