Flouxetine treatment acts selectively increasing myocardial beta1-adrenoceptor mRNA expression in stress-induced depression.

Changes in gene expression of beta1- and beta2-adrenoceptors (beta1 - and beta2-AR) in right and left atria and ventricles after fluoxetine treatment in stress-induced depression of adult rat males were studied. Elevated beta1-AR mRNA levels in the left atria and significantly higher levels of beta2-AR mRNA in the left atria and ventricles were observed in stress-induced depression in comparison with those of unstressed controls. Fluoxetine treatment led to increasing expression of beta1-AR mRNA in the right atria and left ventricles, while the level of beta2-AR mRNA remained unchanged. These findings suggest that fluoxetine therapy plays an important role in cardiac beta-adrenergic subsensitivity and gene regulation of beta-AR in animals with heightened sympathetic nervous activity.