Chronic administration of a melatonin membrane receptor antagonist, luzindole, affects hippocampal neurogenesis without changes in hopelessness-like behavior in adult mice

Melatonin is involved in the regulation of hippocampal neuronal development during adulthood. Emerging evidence indicates that exogenous melatonin acts during different events of the neurogenic process and exerts antidepressant-like behavior in rodents. Thus, melatonin might act through different mechanism, including acting as an antioxidant, interacting with intracellular proteins and/or activating membrane receptors. The melatonin membrane receptors (MMRs; Mt1/Mt2) are distributed throughout the hippocampus with an interesting localization in the hippocampal neurogenic microenvironment (niche), suggesting the involvement of these receptors in the beneficial effects of melatonin on hippocampal neurogenesis and behavior. In this study, we analyzed the participation of MMRs in the baseline neurogenesis in C57BL/6 mice. To this end, we used a pharmacological approach, administering luzindole (10 mg/kg) for 14 days. We observed a decrease in the absolute number of doublecortin-positive cells (49%) without changes in either the dendrite complexity of mature doublecortin-cells or the number of apoptotic cells (TUNEL). However, after the chronic administration of luzindole, cell proliferation (Ki67) significantly decreased (36%) with increasing (>100%) number of neural stem cells (NSCs; GFAP+/Sox2+) in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. In addition, luzindole did not affect hopelessness-like behavior in the forced swim test (FST) or changes in the novelty suppressed feeding test (NST) after 14 days of treatment either neuronal activation in the dentate gyrus after FST. These results suggest that the MMRs are involved in the effects of endogenous melatonin to mediate the transition from NSCs and proliferative cells to the following developmental stages implicated in the hippocampal neurogenic process of adult female C57BL/6 mice.