Eszopiclone facilitation of the antidepressant efficacy of fluoxetine using a social defeat stress model

► Eszopiclone (ESZ) and fluoxetine (FLX) cocktail reduced social defeat stress in mice. ► The treatment combination of ESZ and FLX was affective only at 1 and 5 days after induction. ► These findings are similar to past clinical work in major depressive disorder. ► Differential findings were shown depending on the dependent measure used. ► Neurochemically, no drug treatment affected any marker assayed.