Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026
An Olfactory Preference Test for Measuring Olfactory Hedonic Biases in Mouse Models of Depression
Published on: July 11, 2025
Long-term behavioral changes after cessation of chronic antidepressant treatment in olfactory bulbectomized rats
Megan E Breuer1, Lucianne Groenink, Ronald S Oosting
1Utrecht University, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Psychopharmacology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. M.E.Breuer@pharm.uu.nl
Background:
Olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) in rats causes several behavioral and neurochemical central nervous system changes, reminiscent of symptoms of human depression. Moreover, depression-like behavior after OBX can be reversed with antidepressant drugs. However, the lasting effects of these antidepressant drugs on behavior after cessation of treatment have never been studied.
Methods:
Male rats received OBX or sham surgery. After recovery, animals received 14 consecutive daily doses of imipramine (20 mg/kg), escitalopram (5 and 10 mg/kg), or vehicle. Animals were tested in an open field after acute, sub-chronic, and chronic injections, as well as 1, 2, 6, and 10 weeks after cessation of treatment.
Results:
The OBX-induced hyperactivity was normalized after sub-chronic administration of imipramine and escitalopram. Two weeks after treatment, activity of OBX animals was comparable to sham-treated animals, but after 6 weeks, OBX animals treated with both doses of escitalopram had returned to pre-treatment hyperactivity levels. The OBX animals treated with the high imipramine dose (20 mg/kg) retained activity levels comparable to sham-treated animals until 10 weeks after cessation of treatment.
Conclusions:
Chronic but not acute administration of imipramine and escitalopram normalizes OBX-induced hyperactivity. This effect continues for up to 10 weeks after cessation of treatment in a dose dependant manner.
