Chronic Treatment with Serotonin Selective Reuptake Inhibitors Does Not Affect Regrowth of Serotonin Axons Following Amphetamine Injury in the Mouse Forebrain

Brain injuries often result in permanent sensorimotor and cognitive deficits, including paralysis, memory loss, and deficiencies in language, with depression frequently associated. Serotonin axons have the unusual ability to regrow after injury, unlike most other neurons in the central nervous system. This study tested whether chronic treatment with SSRIs, which increase serotonin levels in the brain, could enhance the regrowth of serotonin axons after a chemical lesion in mice.

• 1
  Chronic treatment with either fluoxetine or sertraline, two different SSRIs, did not affect the recovery of serotonin axon length in the somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, or hippocampus.
• 2
  PCA led to a rapid initial decrease in total 5-HT axon length in the somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, or area CA1 of the hippocampus
• 3
  These results suggest that chronic SSRI treatment does not affect the regrowth of 5-HT axons