Reelin has antidepressant-like effects after repeated or singular peripheral injections.

Chronic stress is a significant risk factor for depression onset. The effects of chronic stress can be studied preclinically using a corticosterone (CORT)-administration paradigm that results in a phenotype of depressive-like behavior associated with neurochemical abnormalities in brain regions like the hippocampus. We have recently shown that intrahippocampal infusions of Reelin have a fast effect in normalizing CORT-induced behavioral and neurochemical alterations.

Fast-acting antidepressant-like effects of Reelin evaluated in the repeated-corticosterone chronic stress paradigm.

The present report examines the effects of repeated or single intrahippocampal Reelin infusions on measures of depressive-like behavior, cognition, and hippocampal neurogenesis in the repeated-corticosterone (CORT) paradigm. Rats received subcutaneous injections of CORT for 3 weeks and Reelin was infused through an inserted canula in the left hippocampus on days 7, 14, and 21, or only on day 21 of CORT injections. CORT increased immobility in the forced-swim test and impaired object-location memory.

Reelin-Related Disturbances in Depression: Implications for Translational Studies.

The finding that reelin expression is significantly decreased in mood and psychotic disorders, together with evidence that reelin can regulate key aspects of hippocampal plasticity in the adult brain, brought our research group and others to study the possible role of reelin in the pathogenesis of depression. This review describes recent progress on this topic using an animal model of depression that makes use of repeated corticosterone (CORT) injections. This methodology produces depression-like symptoms in both rats and mice that are reversed by antidepressant treatment.