The effect of intra-VTA injection of Bupropion on submissive defensive aggressive behavior induced by electrical foot shock of rat

The term of aggression with different meaning applied to wide range of integrative behaviors. Two main classes of aggressive behavior include defensive and offensive. The defensive behavior is tactics for protection of vulnerable parts of body but offensive behaviors is defense against intruders. In the natural state defensive animals can flee from the territory but in restrained condition such as laboratory animals, they show flight, crouching, up right defensive posture. The VTA (Ventral Tegmental Area) with dominant dopaminergic neurons is widely implicated in psychotic disorders. Bupropion as an antidepressant agent is used for smoke cessation widely under FDA approval. The clinical data have showed that it can induce aggressive behavior as side effect. Despite clinical evidence, the mechanism of Bupropion on aggression is not known well. Rats defensive aggression were registered online and offline in control, sham and 3 doses of bupropion. Intra VTA injection was carried out by standard stereotaxic surgery. Aggressive behaviors were only affected by 0.25 mg of bupropion and there were no significant difference between other groups. These data showed that bupropion have complex effect on aggression behavior. Bupropion can inhibit reuptake of dopamine and have effect on VTA neuronal activity for modulation of aggression.