Influence of Imipramine and Sertraline on Neurodegeneration, Behavioural and Immune Cell Parameters in Rats Under Chronic Unpredictable Stress

Stress is one of the major causes of anxiety & depression. Chronic conditions like anxiety & depression when left untreated may result in neuronal & psychological disorders. The present study is aimed at identifying if chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) can cause neurodegeneration in rats and if imipramine & sertraline ( drugs being used for the treatment of depression and anxiety) can protect or recover the brain from neurodegeneration. This study involves 4 groups, namely, Control group (G-I), Chronic unpredictable stress induced group (G-II), CUS + Imipramine (10mg/Kg) treated group (G-III), and CUS + Sertraline (10mg/Kg) treated group (G-IV) with n=6 in each group. The study is conducted for 30 days where stress is induced in G-II, while stress is accompanied with drug treatment in G-III & G-IV. At the end of the 30 day protocol, animals were screened by elevated plus maze and forced swim test . The EPM did not show clear signs of anxiety but the FST has shown signs of depression in G-II & recovery from depression in G-III and G-IV. Serum cortisol levels were assessed and the elevated cortisol levels in G-II clearly indicates that stress has been induced. At the end of the study brains were isolated for histopathological examination and the results indicate that chronic unpredictable stress has induced neurodegeneration in G-II and the drugs Imipramine & Sertraline have shown signs of protection/recovery from neurodegeneration. All the results were analyzed using Graph pad prism (version 6) software.