paroxetine can enhance neurogenesis during neurogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells

background: some antidepressant drugs can promote neuronal cell proliferation in vitro as well as hippocampal neurogenesis in human and animal models. furthermore, adipose tissue is an available source of adult stem cells with the ability to differentiate in to multiple lineages. therefore, human adipose-derived stem cells (hadscs) may be a suitable source for regenerative medical applications. since there is no evidence for the effect of paroxetine as the most commonly prescribed antidepressant drug for neurogenic potential of hadscs, an attempt was made to determine the effect of paroxetine on proliferation and neural differentiation of hadscs. methods: adscs were isolated from human abdominal fat. these cells differentiated to neuron-like cells and were treated with paroxetine. 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (mtt) assay and immunofluorescence technique were used for assessment of cell proliferation and neurogenic differentiation potential of induced cells, respectively. results: mtt assay analysis showed that paroxetine significantly increased the proliferation rate of induced hadscs (p<0.05), while immunofluorescent staining indicated that paroxetine treatment during neurogenic differentiation could enhance the mean percentage of nestin and map2 (microtubule-associated protein-2) positive cells but the mean percentage of gfap (glial acidic fibrillary protein) positive cells significantly decreased relative to control group (p<0.05). conclusion: our results provide evidence that paroxetine can promote proliferation and differentiation rate during neurogenic differentiation of hadscs. moreover, paroxetine can reduce gliogenesis of induced hadscs during neurogenic differentiation.