Depression & Sexual Function – Sexual Behavior in Male and Female Rats (side effects)
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Sexual side effects are commonly experienced with many antidepressants and are a main contributor to patient non-compliance in treatment. As sexual behavior can be assessed in rats, the possibility of a therapeutic compound to exert sexual side effects can easily be assessed. In male rats, sexual responsiveness is measured by assessing both the number and temporal display of mounts, intromissions and ejaculations in the presence of an estrus female, whereas female sexual behavior is measured by assessing both proceptive and receptive behaviors in the presence of a sexually active male. Proceptive behaviors include ear wiggling as well as hopping and darting near the male and making the hind region accessible. In females, the lordosis quotient (LQ) is a well established quantitative measure used to reflect receptive behavior and represents the frequency of a female to display the lordosis posture in response to a mount by the male. The lordosis posture is scored when the female stands in place and subsequently raises her head and arches her back with the tail positioned to the side (female data not shown). Drugs can be tested to determine their effects, either beneficial or detrimental, on the latency and frequency of these male and female sexual behaviors to occur. Baseline testing is used to determine the sexual endophenotype of the experimental animal prior to testing the effects of the compound in question. This is done in order to prevent use of sexual non-responders. SSRIs such as Paroxetine inhibit the display of sexual behavior following chronic administration, whereas the atypical antidepressant, Bupropion, does not significantly alter the display of sexual behavior.
Chronic treatment with paroxetine decreases male sexual function as indicated by the significant decrease in the number of ejaculations (top) and the increased latency to first ejaculation (bottom).
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Acute, but not chronic, treatment with buproprion decreases male sexual function as indicated by the significant decrease in the number of ejaculations (top) and the increased latency to first ejaculation (bottom) on day 1 of administration.
