THE INFLUENCE OF SOME ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS ON SPATIAL
MEMORY IN RATS
ANA-CATERINA CRISTOFOR1, LILIANA MITITELU TARTAU1*, GRATIELA POPA2, RAOUL VASILE LUPUSORU3, VASILE CHIRITA4, NELA BIBIRE5, GABRIELA RUSU1, CATALINA ELENA LUPUSORU1
”Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 16 Universitatii Street, code 700115, Iasi, Romania
1 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Algesiology
2Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology
3Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Physiology
4Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
5Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Analytical Chemistry
*corresponding author: lylytartau@yahoo.com
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Abstract:
This study investigates the effects of antidepressant drugs paroxetine and venlafaxine on the spatial memory in rats. The
experiment was carried out on old white Wistar rats (15 months) distributed into 3 groups of 7 animals each, treated orally for
1 month, as follows: Group I (Control): saline solution 0.3 mL/100 g weight; Group II (PRX): paroxetine 5 mg/Kg bw;
Group III (VLX): venlafaxine 8 mg/Kg bw. The effects of these antidepressants on memory performance were assessed using
the Y-maze test in a single session of eight minutes. Alternation was defined as a consecutive entry in three different arms of
the device. The alternation percentage was calculated according the formula: [number of alternations / (total number of arm
entries - 2)] x 100. The data were analysed with SPSS 17 for Windows software, ANOVA method. In our experimental
conditions the treatment with PRX and VLX resulted in a significant increase of the spontaneous alternation rate compared to
control group in the Y-maze test. We can conclude that chronic administration of both antidepressant drugs paroxetine and
venlafaxine was associated with the improvement of short-term spatial memory in old rats.

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