Open AccessAdolescent fluoxetine exposure increases ERK-related signaling within the prefrontal cortex of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats
Author(s) -
Anapaula Themann,
Minerva Rodriguez,
Israel Garcia-Carachure,
Omar Lira,
Sergio D. Iñiguez
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
oxford open neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2753-149X
DOI - 10.1093/oons/kvac015
Subject(s) - mapk/erk pathway , prefrontal cortex , endocrinology , kinase , medicine , fluoxetine , phosphorylation , protein kinase a , juvenile , extracellular , pi3k/akt/mtor pathway , biology , ribosomal protein s6 , population , signal transduction , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , receptor , protein phosphorylation , genetics , serotonin , environmental health , cognition
There has been a disproportionate increase in fluoxetine (FLX) prescription rates within the juvenile population. Thus, we evaluated how adolescent FLX exposure alters expression/phosphorylation of proteins from the extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)-1/2 cascade within the adult prefrontal cortex (PFC). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to FLX (20 mg/kg) for 15 consecutive days (postnatal-day [PD] 35-49). At PD70 (adulthood), we examined protein markers for ERK1/2, ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). FLX-pretreatment decreased body weight, while increasing PFC phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and RSK, as well as total mTOR protein expression in adulthood. We provide first-line evidence that juvenile FLX-pretreatment induces long-term decreases in body weight-gain, along with neurobiological changes in the adult PFC - highlighting that early-life antidepressant exposure increases ERK-related signaling markers in later life.