Effects of Maternal Fluoxetine Treatment on Behavioural Despair and Learned Helplessness Parameters of Depression in the Rat Progeny

Behavioural teratological effects of prenatal fluoxetine exposure were investigated on behavioural despair and learned helplessness parameters of depression in rats. Pregnant rats were administered fluoxetine (5 and 10 mg/kg/day) orally once a day during the gestation days 13 to 20. The pups born were subjected to forced swimming test of behavioural despair and learned helplessness test at 8 weeks of age. The results indicated that prenatal fluoxetine treatment (5 and 10 mg/kg/day) induced significant increase in time of immobility in forced swimming test and number of escape failures in learned helplessness test in rat offspring. Rat offspring treated with 5 and 10 mg/kg fluoxetine during the prenatal period displayed dose dependent significant increase in time of immobility in behavioural despair test and number of escape failures in learned helplessness test in comparison to control rat offspring. The findings highlight that prenatal fluoxetine treatment caused depressive like behavioural alterations in the rat offspring.