BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF TAMSULOSIN - SELECTIVE α1A ADRENOCEPTOR ANTAGONIST - IN MICE
tamsulosin; α1A adrenoceptors; depression; anxiety; memory; selective antagonist.
Tamsulosin is the main form of treatment of urinary symptoms in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. This selective α1A adrenoceptor antagonist acts on both smooth muscle cells of the prostate and in other regions of the central nervous system. Studies suggest that the use of this drug can increase the likelihood of developing depression, dementia and anxiety in treated patients, possibly because tamsulosin can cross the blood-brain barrier. A recent study (Zhang et al., 2019) used knock-in animals to evaluate the role of the limbic system in modulating resilience to stress and the results suggested that adrenoceptors play an important role in this process. In addition, another research (Doze et al., 2009) has shown that transgenic mice expressing constitutively active mutant α1A adrenoceptors presented antidepressant-like phenotype and improvements on general cognition. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the effects of acute and repeated treatment with tamsulosin in mice behavior. The animals will be tested for behavioral analysis of depression (forced swimming test), anxiety (elevated plus maze), locomotion activity (open field test) and memory (object recognition test). By the end of this study, we hope to be able to comprehend whether tamsulosin can promote harmful effects, as previously shown in humans, and to understand the neural basis involved in this drug’s action, in order to optimize the treatment in patients who take this medication chronically.