Does agomelatine have antidepressant action in juvenile rats? (1144.4)

The purpose of this project is to investigate the effects of agomelatine on hippocampal neurogenesis and behavior in juvenile rats, which may lead to testing agomelatine for treating juvenile depression. Postnatal day 21 (PND21) juvenile Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 2 subgroups: 1) neurogenesis, and 2) behavioral. Each subgroup was further divided into experimental and control groups and injected intraperitoneally (IP) with agomelatine (10 mg kg¯¹) in 1% hydroxyethyl cellulose or vehicle respectively. The neurogenesis subgroup was injected once daily for 14 days. The behavioral subgroup was injected for 3 days, the first 2 days according to a porsolt forced swim test protocol, and once on the third day. The neurogenesis subgroup was also injected IP with BrdU three times a day for two days at the end, mitogenic, or the beginning, cell survival, of the 14 day injection period. After BrdU administration, the rats were sacrificed, and brain tissues fixed. The fixed brains were sectioned and analyzed...