The effects of ziprasidone on regional c-Fos expression in the rat forebrain

Typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs produce characteristic patterns of immediate early gene expression in rat forebrain that are considered to reflect their effects in schizophrenia subjects. To use c-Fos immunohistochemistry to investigate the functional neuroanatomical profile of the newly introduced atypical agent ziprasidone. c-Fos immunohistochemistry was performed on paraformaldehyde-fixed cryosections of rat brains obtained, initially, from animals 2, 4, or 6 h after oral administration of 10 mg/kg ziprasidone or vehicle and, subsequently, from animals 2 h after oral administration of 1, 3, or 10 mg/kg ziprasidone or vehicle. The density of immunoreactive nuclei was assessed in pre-determined forebrain regions. Ziprasidone induced a time-dependent increase in the density of c-Fos-positive nuclei that was maximal at 2 h. At the 2 h time-point, c-Fos expression was significantly (p