Would tricyclic antidepressants help those with inflammatory bowel disease?

It is thought that intestinal inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease are exacerbated by depression. New data, generated by Stephen Collins and colleagues at McMaster University Medical Center, Canada, have characterized a mechanism by which experimental conditions that induced depressive-like behaviors in mice increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation. Specifically, in two models of depression, increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation involved decreased signaling along a nerve known as the vagal nerve and required inflammatory cells known as macrophages to be present in the intestine. Further, the tricyclic antidepressant desmethylimipramine restored vagal function and reduced intestinal inflammation, leading the authors to suggest that their data provide good rationale for future studies examining the clinical benefits of tricyclic antidepressants in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease, in particular those who are also depressed.

TITLE: Impaired parasympathetic function increases susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease in a mouse model of depression

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Stephen M. Collins
McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Phone: (905) 525-9140 ext. 22184; Fax: (905) 524-1346; E-mail: scollins@mcmaster.ca.

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