Antidepressant Treats Huntington Mice

HD Lighthouse Contributing Editor's Comment: Many agents promote the growth of new brain cells. Lithium, blueberries, exercise, DHA found in fish oil and a class of antidepressants. Antidepressants of the SSRI ( Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor) class promote neurogenesis.

Here the antidepressant paroxetine is shown to treat HD mice. --Jerry
Posted to the HDL: 30 Mar 2004

Antidepressant Treats HD in Mice

"Paroxetine attenuated motor dysfunction and body weight loss and improved glucose metabolism in the HD mice." --Mark Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the NIA’s Laboratory of Neurosciences.
 

We report that administration of paroxetine, a widely prescribed antidepressant drug that acts by inhibiting reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin, suppresses the neurodegenerative process and increases the survival of huntingtin mutant mice, an animal model of Huntington's disease (HD).

Paroxetine attenuated motor dysfunction and body weight loss and improved glucose metabolism in the HD mice. Paroxetine was beneficial when treatment was initiated before or after the onset of motor dysfunction, suggesting a potential for such antidepressant drugs in the treatment of presymptomatic and symptomatic HD patients.

Source: Ann Neurol. 2004 Apr;55(4):590-4.

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