Pharmacological evaluation of NO/cGMP/KATP channels pathway in the antidepressant-like effect of carbamazepine in mice.

Carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant drug, has shown antidepressant effects in clinical and experimental models. Nitric oxide (NO) is a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and has been involved in a variety of diseases including depression. In the present study, the involvement of NO/cyclic GMP/KATP channels pathway in the antidepressant action of carbamazepine was investigated in mice. The antidepressant-like activity was assessed in the forced swim test (FST) behavioral paradigm. Carbamazepine reduced (40 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) immobility period. The antidepressant-like effect of carbamazepine (40 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) was prevented by pretreatment with L-arginine [substrate for NO synthase (NOS), 750 mg/kg, intraperitoneal], sildenafil (a PDE-5 inhibitor, 5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) and diazoxide (K+ channels opener, 10 mg/kg). Pretreatment of mice with L-NAME (a non-selective NOS inhibitor, 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), methylene blue (direct inhibitor of both NOS and soluble guanylate cyclase, 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) and glibenclamide (an ATP-sensitive K+ channel blocker, 1 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) produced potentiation of the action of a sub-effective dose of carbamazepine (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneal). Also, carbamazepine (30 mg/kg) potentiated the antidepressant-like effect of fluoxetine through NO modulation. The various modulators used in the study did not produce any changes in locomotor activity per se. The results demonstrated that the antidepressant-like effect of carbamazepine in the FST involved an interaction with the NO/cGMP/KATP channels pathway.