| First Author | Matsushita H | Year | 2012 |
| Journal | Neuroscience | Volume | 200 |
| Pages | 13-8 | PubMed ID | 22088430 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:184422 | Mgi Id | MGI:5320867 |
| Doi | 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.11.001 | Citation | Matsushita H, et al. (2012) Antidepressant-like effect of sildenafil through oxytocin-dependent cyclic AMP response element-binding protein phosphorylation. Neuroscience 200:13-8 |
| abstractText | Oxytocin (OT) levels in plasma increase during sexual response and are significantly lower in patients with depression. A drug for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, sildenafil, enhances the electrically evoked release of OT from the posterior pituitary. In this study, we showed that sildenafil had an antidepressant-like effect through activation of an OT signaling pathway. Application of sildenafil reduced depression-related behavior in male mice. The antidepressant-like effect was blocked by an OT receptor (OTR) antagonist and was absent in OTR knockout (KO) mice. Sildenafil increased the phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the hippocampus. The OTR antagonist inhibited sildenafil-induced CREB phosphorylation and sildenafil had no effect on CREB phosphorylation in OTR KO mice. These results suggest sildenafil to have an antidepressant-like effect through the activation of OT signaling and to be a promising drug for the treatment of depression. |
