Neonatal treatment with fluoxetine reduces depressive behavior induced by forced swim in adult rats.

Serotonin plays a role at the pathophysiology of depression in humans and in experimental models. The present study investigated the depressive behavior and the weigh evolution in adult rats (60 days) treated from the 1st to the 21st postnatal day with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (10 mg/kg, sc, daily). The depressive behavior was induced by the forced swim test (FST).