Chronic psychotropic drug treatment causes differential expression of connexin 43 and GFAP in frontal cortex of rats

Astrocytic markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and connexin 43 (CX43) are known to have altered expression in brains of subjects with psychiatric disorders including autism and major depression. The current study investigated whether GFAP and CX43 expressions are affected by several commonly used psychotropic medications (clozapine, fluoxetine, haloperidol, lithium, olanzapine, and valproic acid). Using SDS-PAGE and western blotting technique, we observed that CX43 protein expression in prefrontal cortex was significantly increased following chronic treatment with fluoxetine and clozapine, while it was significantly decreased by haloperidol and lithium. GFAP protein expression was significantly decreased following chronic treatment with clozapine and valproic acid. These results suggest that astroglial markers GFAP and CX43 could be potential targets for therapeutic intervention.