Antidepressant-like Effects of Abilify and Prozac in Juvenile C57BL/6 Mice

RM 215-218

There is a rise in the concomitant use of aripiprazole (Abilify®) and fluoxetine (Prozac®) in pediatric populations. Recent preclinical and clinical reports show that this combined pharmacological approach results in an augmentation of the therapeutic properties of traditional antidepressants in adults; however, the antidepressant-like effectiveness of this combination treatment has not been evaluated in the juvenile population. To address this issue at the preclinical level, we administered an acute injection of saline (placebo), or a combination sub threshold dose of Prozac (5 or 10 mg/kg) with Abilify (0.5mg/kg) to adolescent male C57BL/6 mice (postnatal day 35). Thirty minutes after drug exposure, the adolescent mice were exposed to the tail suspension test- a behavioral assay commonly used to screen for antidepressant efficacy. Our results show that adolescent mice administered with Prozac (10 mg/kg) in combination with Abilify (0.5 mg/kg) display a significant decrease in the time spent immobile when compared to control (saline-treated) mice; a behavioral profile described as “antidepressant-like” across the literature. As such, these results suggest that concomitant treatment of Prozac with Abilify may be an option for treatment-resistant depression in the pediatric population.