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Effect of Activation and Blockade of Nitrergic Neurotransmission on Serotonin System Activity of the Rat Medial Prefrontal Cortex

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Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) and serotonin play an important role in the functioning of the medial prefrontal cortex, but their interaction has been poorly explored. The aim of this work was to study the effects of local nitrergic signals on the activity of the serotonin system in this cortical area. In male Sprague–Dawley rats, using in vivo microdialysis, we showed that the infusion of diethylamine nonoate (0.1 mM, 0.5 mM, 1 mM), an NO donor, into the medial prefrontal cortex led to an increase in extracellular serotonin levels, which correlated with the drug concentration during the first 15 min of infusion. Diethylamine nonoate, at a concentration of 2.5 mM, reduced extracellular seritonin levels. Infusion of N-nitro-L-arginine (0.5 mM), an NO synthase inhibitor, into the medial prefrontal cortex decreased the basal extracellular serotonin level in this area, as well as delayed and attenuated a rise in the serotonin level caused by the local administration of fluoxetine (10 µM), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. These findings indicate that in the medial prefrontal cortex, in a quiet waking state, tonic endogenous nitrergic signals, as well as their moderate pharmacological enhancement by NO donor administration, activates the serotonin system in this area by increasing the extracellular serotonin pool, while a stronger nitrergic stimulation acts in the opposite way.

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Funding

This work was carried out within the State Program “Basic Scientific Research for Long-Term Development and Competitiveness of the Society and State”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. B. Saulskaya, M. A. Burmakina & N. A. Trofimova

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  1. N. B. Saulskaya
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  2. M. A. Burmakina
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  3. N. A. Trofimova
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Contributions

Conceptualization and experimental design (N.B.S.); data collection (M.A.B., N.A.T., N.B.S.); data processing (N.B.S., M.A.B.); writing the manuscript (N.B.S., M.A.B., N.A.T.).

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Correspondence to N. B. Saulskaya.

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that they have neither evident nor potential conflict of interest associated with the publication of this article.

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Translated by A. Polyanovsky

Russian Text © The Author(s), 2022, published in Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I.M. Sechenova, 2022, Vol. 108, No. 3, pp. 369–378https://doi.org/10.31857/S0869813922030086.

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Saulskaya, N.B., Burmakina, M.A. & Trofimova, N.A. Effect of Activation and Blockade of Nitrergic Neurotransmission on Serotonin System Activity of the Rat Medial Prefrontal Cortex. J Evol Biochem Phys 58, 500–507 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022020181

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022020181

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