Pharmacopsychiatry 2005; 38 - A150
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-918772

Effect of antipsychotic drugs on proliferation and differentiation of adult neural stem cells (ANSC) of mouse hippocampi

H Ludewigs 1, J Benninghoff 2, S Robel 1, JJK Genius 1, HJ Möller 2
  • 1Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München
  • 2Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität LMU München, Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, München

Objectives:

Previous studies showed that proliferation kinetics of ANCS are modified by psychotomimetic and antipsychotic drugs. We treated ANSC with MK801, an NMDA-receptor-antagonist in order to establish a model which represents schizophrenia-like conditions. Additionally cells are treated with haloperidol (dopamine–2-receptor-antagonist), a typical neuroleptic and a combination of both. Cells are forced to differentiate in order to find out if the ratio between neurons and gliacells change under treatment.

Methods:

ANSC were extracted from mouse hippocampi and kept in serum-free culture. They were passaged every 4 days up to 40 times. Cells differentiated when serum was added and growth-factor-free medium was used. Immunocytochemical methods were employed in order to visualize neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

Results:

Haloperidol-treatment decreases proliferation of ANSC extremly while MK801 does not alter proliferation kinetic. The combination of MK801 and Haldol leads to a significant decrease of cell proliferation but does not reach the dimension of Haldol-treatment.

Conclusion and prospect:

Recent evidence implicates that treatment with antipsychotic drugs has impact on proliferation and differentiation kinetics. It is of further interest, what kind of influence other classic and atypical neuroleptics would have on ANSC in vitro and in vivo.