Objective: To survey the effects of citalopram on proliferation and differentiation of neural precursor cells (NPCs) from embryonic rat hippocampus.
Methods: Single cell suspensions were prepared from the hippocampus of 14.5 days embryos rat. After formation of the primary neurospheres, single cell clone was obtained with limited dilution method. Then the single cell clone spheres were digested and induced to proliferate and differentiate using non-serum medium and bovine serum. The effects of varied concentration citalopram on the proliferation and differentiation of NPCs were investigated by using mononuclear cell direct cytotoxicity (MTT) reduction assay and immunofluorescence method respectively.
Results: MTT showed that citalopram (1.0 micromol/L) could increase the absorbance (A(570) nm) from 3 days to 7 days after intervention significantly (all P < 0.0001). Immunofluorescence showed that percentage of NeuN positive cells were 59.5% +/- 2.8% and 57.8% +/- 2.1% respectively after 7-day intervention of 1.0 micromol/L and 0.5 micromol/L citalopram, more than 47.3% +/- 4.3% of control group (all P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Citalopram promotes proliferation and differentiation of NPCs from embryonic rat hippocampus.