Abstract

ESTRADA-CAMARENA, Erika. Factors that affect the antidepressant-like effect of estrogens: preclinical evidence. Salud Ment [online]. 2012, vol.35, n.5, pp.419-426. ISSN 0185-3325.

Perimenopause is a transition period between regular menstruation cycles to menopause. During this period important hormonal changes occur in women; for example, estrogen levels oscillations, increases in follicular stimulating and luteinizing hormone levels. These hormonal changes have been associated to the increase in vulnerability to develop psychiatric disorders such as depression in some women. An alternative treatment for depressive states associated to perimenopause is estrogen replacement therapy (ERT); however, controversial results about its effect to treat depression restrict its use. Some factors that may contribute to explain observed discrepancies among clinical studies are age of patients, their endocrine status, estrogens type used in the ERT as well as treatment duration. However, systematic clinical studies are scarce, thus the use of animal models to evaluate the possible contribution of each one of these factors is relevant. The present review analyzed the contribution of different estrogens type, dose, treatment duration, age of animals and the relation between post-OVX time and that of ERT initiation using the FST as the animal model to screen the effect of antidepressant drugs. Results suggest that OVX increased the vulnerability to develop a depressive-like behavior; the closer to surgery, the greater susceptibility occurs, as happens in clinical studies. In relation to estrogens type and dose, lower doses were more effective to reduce depression-like behaviors than supraphysiological ones and estrogen type was important to adjust this factor. The time to start the ERT should be closer to OVX in order to obtain an effect on the FST and duration of restitution depended on the estrogen used. Finally, the age of animals was also a limiting factor for the antidepressant-like effect of estrogens.

Keywords : Antidepressant; forced swimming test; post-menopause; menopause; age; estrogens.

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