Long-term administration of atropine, imipramine, and viloxazine alters responsiveness of rat cortical neurones to acetylcholine

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Abstract
Rats were treated daily with atropine (2.5 mg/kg), imipramine (5 mg/kg), viloxazine (5 mg/kg) or saline for 14 days. After the final injection 36 h the rats were anesthetized with urethane and the sensitivity of neurons in the somatosensory cortex to iontophoretically applied acetylcholine (ACh) was determined. In saline-treated animals the large majority of neurons excited by ACh with depression being observed infrequently. This was reversed in drug-treated animals, the predominant response to iontophoretic ACh becoming 1 of depression. Long-term administration of antidepressant drugs may induce qualitative changes in the sensitivity of central cholinergic systems.