Cited by 604Tryptophan and brain disordersStress Responses and CortisolTreatment of Major Depression

Endotoxin produces a depressive-like episode in rats

Yirmiya, Raz·1996·Brain Research

Abstract

Activation of the immune system produces psychological and physiological effects, which resemble the characteristics of depression. The present study was designed to investigate further, in rats, the similarity between the behavioral effects of immune activation and a model of depression in animals. Reduction in the preference for and consumption of saccharin solutions and suppression of sexual behavior were used as models of one essential feature of depression, the inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia). Other measures testing this model were the reduction in food consumption, body weight, locomotor activity, and social interaction. It was found that systemic injection of lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin), which is a potent activator of the immune system, significantly decreased saccharin preference in fluid-deprived rats. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) also decreased free consumption of saccharin, but not water, in non-deprived rats. Several indices of male sexual behavior were significantly suppressed following LPS administration. Chronic, but not acute, treatment with the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine abolished the suppressive effect of LPS on saccharin preference. Moreover, chronic, but not acute, treatment with imipramine also reduced and facilitated the recovery from the suppressive effects of LPS on food consumption, body weight, social interaction and activity in the open-field test. The results suggest that activation of the immune system in rats produces anhedon…

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/0006-8993(95)01415-2

Cites

2 of 2 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Injection of bacterial endotoxin (LPS) inhibits sexual activity and reduces consumption of sweetened solutions in rats.

    “injection of bacterial endotoxin (i.e., LPS) inhibits sexual activity and reduces the consumption of sweetened solutions that are strongly preferred by rats”
  • Depressive-like behaviors evoked by bacterial endotoxin administration can be alleviated by antidepressant medication or eliminated almost entirely by pretreatment with cytokine synthesis blockers or cytokine antagonists.

    “depressive-like behaviors that are evoked by bacterial endotoxin administration can be alleviated by antidepressant medication administration or eliminated almost entirely by pretreatment with cytokine synthesis blockers or cytokine antagonists”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Yirmiya, R.
Affiliations
Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
Corresponding author
Yirmiya, Raz
Venue
Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1996-03
Volume
711
Issue
1-2
Pages
163-174
ISSN
0006-8993 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1971051809
Cited by
604
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 22
FWCI
7.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide, depression, anhedonia, immune activation, saccharin preference, sexual behavior, imipramine, antidepressant effects, locomotor activity, social interaction
MeSH terms
Animals, Body Weight, Depression, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Drinking, Eating, Endotoxins, Lipopolysaccharides, Male, Rats, Inbred F344, Saccharin, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Time Factors, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review