Count and Phagocytic Activity of Leukocytes in Rats with Experimental Depressive Syndrome Caused by Systemic

We elaborated a model of dopamine deficiency-dependent experimental depressive syndrome (DS) caused by proneurotoxin 1 -methyl-4-phenyl1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) [7]. The adequacy of this model was proved in pharmacological experiments and in studies of REM sleep characteristics [4]. It is known that depression leads to immune disorders [2,3,12]. In patients with endogenous depression, the count of leukocytes, granulocytes, and monocytes increased [11, 14], while the total content of lymphocytes, absolute number of T and B lymphocytes [ 13], and neutrophil phagocytic activity decreased [9]. Previous studies on rats with MPTP-induced DS showed that the lymphocyte count, absolute and relative contents of T lymphocytes, and the absolute number of peripheral blood B lymphocytes decreased, while the concentration of circulating immune complexes increased [11 ]. We ela-