摘要
The compound 2-(2-benzofuranyl)-2-imidazoline (2-BFI) is a 2-imidazoline derivative that selectively inhibits the in vitro activity of monoamine oxidase-A and it is also an imidazoline I2 agonist. However, the antidepressant potential of this compound and its mechanism of action have not been well defined. Therefore, in this study we investigated the antidepressant-like effect of 2-BFI in mice. 2-BFI (100 and 300 渭mol/kg, s.c.) significantly reduced the immobility time on the tail suspension test (TST) without changing locomotion in the open field test. The reduced the immobility time of 2-BFI (100 渭mol/kg, s.c.) was confirmed with the forced swimming test (FST). The antidepressant-like effect of 2-BFI (100 渭mol/kg, s.c.) in the TST was prevented by pretreatment with idazoxan (0.4 渭mol/kg, i.p., a I2 site antagonist), methysergide (4 渭mol/kg, i.p., a non-selective serotonergic receptor antagonist) and haloperidol (0.1 渭mol/kg, i.p., a non-selective dopaminergic receptor antagonist). The anxiolytic effect of 2-BFI was also evaluated, using the elevated plus-maze test. 2-BFI (300 渭mol/kg, s.c.) was able to significantly increase the%of number of entries and the%of time spent in the open arms, indicating that it possesses an anxiolytic effect at high doses. In conclusion, these results suggest that the antidepressant-like effect of 2-BFI might involve serotonergic, dopaminergic and imidazoline systems, and then the imidazoline site could represent a new pharmacological target for the treatment of depression.