Study of Venlafaxine Effect on Development of the Brain and Expression some of the Related Genes in the Mouse Embryo

Study of Venlafaxine Effect on Development of the Brain and Expression some of the Related Genes in the Mouse Embryo
Ranjbar Ramesh,¹ Ahadi Alimohammad,² Zamanzade Zahra,^3,*
1. Department of Biotechnology, faculty of Biological Sciencen and Technology, Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran
2. Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
3. Department of Biotechnology, faculty of Biological Sciencen and Technology, Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani University, Isfahan, Iran
Introduction: Depression is the most common mood disorder in today's society. It is twice as common in women as in men and is the first onset of depression in a woman's reproductive years. Depression can have many side effects if not treated in women before or during pregnancy. Taking antidepressants is not the right choice because it may cause brain disorders in the fetus. There are few antidepressants that have been shown to be safe to use during pregnancy and lactation, one of them is Venlafaxine. Few experimental studies have been performed on this drug and it may cause neurological and brain disorders in fetuses and infants, as well as the individual. Therefore, in this experiment, the effect of Venlafaxine on the differentiation of mouse fetus brain and the expression of three key genes affecting brain development has been investigated.
Methods: In this study, two groups of 7 balb/c rats were used. one group was treated with 35mg/kg Venlafaxine before pregnancy until 20 days after birth. brain tissue samples were taken using dissection. Then the brain size of the mouse embryos was evaluated using Image j software. Finally, brain tissue RNA was extracted from the target tissues, then their cDNA was synthesised and the expression of TUBB5, DDC, SHANK3 genes were measured using Real Time PCR technique. To analyze the expression of genes, Rest 2009 software was used and the gene network of these three genes was plotted using cytoscape software.
Results: results showed a significant increase in expression of TUBB5 and SHANK3 gene, equal to 4.077 and 11.345 times respectively. no significant difference was shown in DDC gene experession. Image J sowftware results showed partial microcephaly in treatment group.
Conclusion: The results show that the antidepressant drug of Venlafaxine affects the expression of genes involved in brain development and impairs brain development and mental disorders in the fetus. As a result, the use of this drug by the mother during pregnancy and lactation due to irreparable damage to the fetal brain, including fetal microcephaly and hyperactivity, etc. should be prohibited.
Keywords: Gene Expression, Brain Disorders, Antidepressant, Venlafaxine, Pharmacogenomics