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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Quantification of Neurovascular Protection Following Repetitive Hypoxic Preconditioning and Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Mice
Published on: May 4, 2015
The possible use of hypoxic preconditioning for the prophylaxis of post-stress depressive episodes
E A Rybnikova1, M O Samoilov, V I Mironova
1Laboratories for the Regulation of Brain Neuron Functions, Neuroendocrinology, and Nervous System Ontogenesis, I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Abstract:
The protective effects of hypoxic preconditioning on the development of depressive states in rat models were studied. Three episodes of intermittent preconditioning using hypobaric hypoxia (360 mmHg, 2 h) prevented the onset of depressive behavioral reactions, hyperfunction of the hypophyseal-adrenal system, and impairments in its suppression in the dexamethasone test in rats following unavoidable aversive stress in a model of endogenous depression. The anxiolytic and antidepressant actions of hypoxic preconditioning in experiments on rats were no less marked than those of the tetracyclic antidepressant ludiomil. The results obtained here provide evidence that preconditioning with intermittent hypobaric hypoxia increases resistance to psychoemotional stresses, has marked anxiolytic and antidepressant effects, and can be used for the prophylaxis of depressive episodes.

