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Timo Jendrik Faustmann, Marisa Wawrzyniak, Pedro Faustmann, Franco Corvace, Fatme Seval Ismail

• Depression may occur in patients with multiple sclerosis, especially during interferon-\(\beta\) (IFN-\(\beta\)) treatment, and therapy with antidepressants may be necessary. Interactions of IFN-\(\beta\) with antidepressants concerning glia-mediated inflammation have not yet been studied. Primary rat co-cultures of astrocytes containing 5% (M5, consistent with "physiological" conditions) or 30% (M30, consistent with "pathological, inflammatory" conditions) of microglia were incubated with 10 ng/mL amitriptyline or doxepin for 2 h, or with 2000 U/mL IFN-\(\beta\) for 22 h. To investigate the effects of antidepressants on IFN-\(\beta\) treatment, amitriptyline or doxepin was added to IFN-\(\beta\) pre-treated co-cultures. An MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was performed to measure the glial cell viability, immunocytochemistry was performed to evaluate the microglial activation state, and ELISA was performed to measure pro-inflammatory TNF-\(\alpha\) and IL-6 cytokine concentrations. Incubation of inflammatory astrocyte–microglia co-cultures with amitriptyline, doxepin or IFN-\(\beta\) alone, or co-incubation of IFN-\(\beta\) pre-treated co-cultures with both antidepressants, significantly reduced the extent of inflammation, with the inhibition of microglial activation. TNF-\(\alpha\) and IL-6 levels were not affected. Accordingly, the two antidepressants did not interfere with the anti-inflammatory effect of IFN-\(\beta\) on astrocytes and microglia. Furthermore, no cytotoxic effects on glial cells were observed. This is the first in vitro study offering novel perspectives in IFN-\(\beta\) treatment and accompanying depression regarding glia.