Effects of methiothepin on changes in brain serotonin release induced by repeated administration of high doses of anorectic serotoninergic drugs

We previously observed, using in vivo microdialysis, that the potassium-evoked release of frontocortical serotonin (5-HT) is suppressed after rats receive high doses (30 mg/kg, i.p., daily for 3 days) of fluoxetine, a selective blocker of 5-HT reuptake. We now describe similar impairments in 5-HT release after repeated administration of two other 5-HT uptake blockers, zimelidine and sertraline (both at 20 mg/kg, i.p. for 3 days) as well as after dexfenfluramine (7.5 mg/kg, i.p. daily for 3 days), a drug which both releases 5-HT and blocks its reuptake. Doses of these indirect serotonin agonists were about 4-6 times the drug's ED50 in producing anorexia, a serotonin-related behavior. In addition, methiothepin (20 microM), a non-selective receptor antagonist, locally perfused through the dialysis probe 24 h after the last drug injection, enhanced K(+)-evoked release of 5-HT at serotoninergic nerve terminals markedly in control rats and slightly in rats treated with high doses of dexfenfluramine or fluoxetine. On the other hand, pretreatment with methiothepin (10 mg/kg, i.p.) one hour before each of the daily doses of fluoxetine or dexfenfluramine given for 3 days, totally prevented the decrease in basal and K(+)-evoked release of 5-HT. Finally, when methiothepin was injected systemically the day before the first of 3 daily injections of dexfenfluramine, it partially attenuated the long-term depletion of brain 5-HT and 5-HIAA levels induced by repeated administration of high doses of dexfenfluramine. These data suggest that drugs which bring about the prolonged blockade of 5-HT reuptake - such as dexfenfluramine and fluoxetine - can, by causing prolonged increases in intrasynaptic 5-HT levels as measured by in vivo microdialysis, produce receptor-mediated long-term changes in the processes controlling serotonin levels and dynamics.