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Abstract
There are two gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) hypotheses of the antidepressants action:
an increase in GABAA neurotransmission or a decrease in GABAB neurotransmission may
contribute to action of antidepressants. In this study, involvement of GABAA and GABAB
receptor systems was examined in the learned helplessness paradigm in rats. Rats were
injected with bicuculline or baclofen for 14 days. On day 14, the rats were subjected
to 15 inescapable shocks. On day 15, they underwent the 40-trial escape test. Baclofen
exacerbated the escape failures in the rats subjected to the inescapable shocks, although
baclofen had no effects in the animals without shock pre-treatment. Bicuculline failed
to influence the escape failures in the rats with the 15-shock pre-treatment. These
results suggest that the long-term increase in GABAB neurotransmission but not the
long-term attenuation of GABAA neurotransmission may be related to helplessness in
rats.