Experimental Animal Models of Human Depression: Understanding the Mechanism of Anti-depressant Agents

Abstract

Experimental animal models are considered an important scientific tool used to understand the pathogenesis of depression and the mechanism of anti-depressant agents. Human depression is a unique and complex process of multifactorial etiologies. The research-based evidence suggested that a functional deficiency of norepinephrine (NE), 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT), and other neurotransmitters result in depression. A mood alteration disease associated with neurotransmitter dysfunction or psychological stress. There are numerous experimental animal models available to screen antidepressant drugs, but their precise pathophysiology is not entirely well-known. The present review focused on depression assay studies that used a variety of experimental models, including acute stress models such as the forced swim test, models of prolonged physical or social stress such as social defeat, genetic models of secondary depression, and other experiments meant to clarify the mechanisms of antidepressant medications.