Figure 3

Effects of brexpiprazole and fluoxetine combination on the alterations in the dendritic spine density in the brain regions from susceptible mice after social defeat stress.

(a): Schedule of social defeat stress, treatment, and behavioral tests. Repeated social defeat stress was performed 10 days (day 1- day 10). Social interaction test was performed day 11, and susceptible mice were used subsequent experiments. Two hours after oral administration of vehicle (10 ml/kg), fluoxetine (10 mg/kg), brexpiprazole (0.1 mg/kg), or fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) plus brexpiprazole (0.1 mg/kg), brains from mice were collected for Golgi staining. (b–h): Golgi staining in the brain regions (PrL and IL regions of mPFC, core and shell of NAc, CA1, CA3, DG of hippocampus) was performed. Representative data of Golgi staining in the mouse brain regions. Data are shown as mean ± S.E.M. (n = 5 or 6). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 compared to vehicle-treated stress group (one-way ANOVA, followed post hoc LSD test). N.S.: Not significant.