| Summary: | Amine Bahi,1,* Johannes Stephan Schwed,2,3 Miriam Walter,2 Holger Stark,3 Bassem Sadek,4,* 1Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; 2Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Biozentrum, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, 3Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Institut fuer Pharmazeutische and Medizinische Chemie, Düsseldorf, Germany; 4Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Previous studies have suggested a potential link between histamine H3 receptors (H3R) signaling and anxiolytic-like and antidepressant-like effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of ST-1283, a novel H3R antagonist, on anxiety-related and depression-related behaviors in comparison with those of diazepam and fluoxetine. The effects of ST-1283 were evaluated using the elevated plus maze test, open field test, marbles burying test, tail suspension test, novelty suppressed feeding test, and forced swim test in male C57BL/6 mice. The results showed that, like diazepam, ST-1283 (7.5 mg/kg) significantly modified all the parameters observed in the elevated plus maze test. In addition, ST-1283 significantly increased the amount of time spent in the center of the arena without altering general motor activity in the open field test. In the same vein, ST-1283 reduced the number of buried marbles as well as time spent digging in the marbles burying test. The tail suspension test and forced swim test showed that ST-1283 was able to reduce immobility time, like the recognized antidepressant drug fluoxetine. In the novelty suppressed feeding test, treatment with ST-1283 decreased latency to feed with no effect on food intake in the home cage. Importantly, pretreatment with the H3R agonist R-α-methylhistamine abrogated the anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of ST-1283. Taken together, the present series of studies demonstrates the novel effects of this newly synthesized H3R antagonist in a number of preclinical models of psychiatric disorders and highlights the histaminergic system as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of anxiety-related and depression-related disorders. Keywords: anxiety, depression, histamine, H3 receptor, R-α-methylhistamine, ST-1283
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