Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology, Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057, USA.
Department of Psychology, Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX 78626, USA.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2020 Dec;199:173040. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2020.173040. Epub 2020 Sep 12.
Female sexual dysfunction is both a symptom of depression and exacerbated by treatments for depression. Ketamine, a novel treatment for depression, has been shown to enhance, whereas fluoxetine has been shown to impair sexual motivation. Sexual experience leads to more robust partner preference and paced mating behavior in female rats. Whether acute ketamine and fluoxetine similarly affect sexual motivation and mating behavior in sexually experienced female rats is unknown. Sexually experienced female rats received 10 mg/kg i.p. of ketamine or saline vehicle (Experiment 1) or 10 mg/kg i.p. of fluoxetine or water vehicle (Experiment 2) 30 min before a 10-min no-contact partner preference test followed immediately by a 15-intromission paced mating test. Partner preference and paced mating behavior did not differ between ketamine- and saline-treated rats. In contrast, rats treated with fluoxetine spent significantly less time with either stimulus animal and were less active during the partner preference test than water-treated rats. Additionally, contact-return latency to ejaculation was significantly longer in fluoxetine-treated rats and they spent less time with the male during paced mating in comparison to water-treated rats. Thus, even with sexual experience, fluoxetine disrupts sexual function whereas ketamine has no detrimental effects on sexual behavior in female rats. A growing body of evidence suggests that ketamine is an encouraging new approach to treat depression particularly because it is not associated with sexual dysfunction.
女性性功能障碍既是抑郁症的症状，也是抑郁症治疗的加重因素。氯胺酮是一种治疗抑郁症的新方法，已被证明可以增强性欲，而氟西汀则被证明会损害性欲。性经验会导致雌性大鼠产生更强的伴侣偏好和有节奏的交配行为。急性氯胺酮和氟西汀是否同样影响有性经验的雌性大鼠的性欲和交配行为尚不清楚。在 10 分钟无接触伴侣偏好测试后，立即进行 15 次插入的有节奏交配测试之前，给有性经验的雌性大鼠腹腔注射 10mg/kg 的氯胺酮或生理盐水（实验 1）或 10mg/kg 的氟西汀或水载体（实验 2）。与盐水处理的大鼠相比，氯胺酮处理的大鼠在伴侣偏好测试中没有表现出明显的差异。相比之下，与水治疗的大鼠相比，用氟西汀治疗的大鼠与任何刺激动物的时间明显减少，在伴侣偏好测试中的活动明显减少。此外，与水治疗的大鼠相比，氟西汀治疗的大鼠的射精接触返回潜伏期明显延长，它们在有节奏的交配过程中与雄性的时间也减少。因此，即使有性经验，氟西汀也会破坏雌性大鼠的性功能，而氯胺酮对大鼠的性行为没有不良影响。越来越多的证据表明，氯胺酮是一种治疗抑郁症的令人鼓舞的新方法，特别是因为它与性功能障碍无关。
