Anne Klomp1, Jordi L. Tremoleda2,
Aart J. Nederveen1, Marzena Wylezinska2, Willy Gsell2,
Liesbeth Reneman1
1Department of Radiology, Academical
Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2Biological Imaging
Centre, Imaging Science Department, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Hammersmith
Hospital, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
The
effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment (the only SSRI registered for use in
children) on the developing brain are not well studied. Here we investigate
the effect of chronic fluoxetine exposure on the serotonergic system in adult
and peri-adolescent rats using phMRI. Chronic treatment with fluoxetine
elicits a reduction of overall brain activation in adult rats but not in
young rats. Previous data from our group showed an increase of serotonin
transporters after chronic treatment in peri-adolescent rats but not in adult
rats, suggesting a compensation mechanism occurring in the developing brain
which could explain our phMRI findings.