Comparison of Santarelli et al and Bessa et al

     At first glance, Santarelli et al appeared to be the easier paper to start with. It was shorter in length than Bessa et al and written earlier chronologically. Bessa et al, as was stated in the introduction, was a response to questions raised by Santarelli et al. Bessa et al, however, was much easier to read. It contained a very detailed Materials and Methods section, which was lacking in Santarelli et al. Since I am relatively new to a lot of the procedures, it was very helpful that Bessa et al included a brief explanation and description of the different types of induced stress and anxiety procedures used in the research. Santarelli et al merely stated that it used an adapted NSF protocol, whereas Bessa et al had descriptions of how the stress was actually induced in the mice. This depth of the description was used throughout Bessa et al, from the drug descriptions to the way that BrdU is incorporated in DNA. Reading Bessa et al actually made it easier to reread and understand what was going on in Santarelli et al.

     The two papers also showed different techniques for disrupting neurogenesis to test the effects of antidepressant drugs. Santarelli et al used X-irradiation to stop the cell proliferation in the hippocampus, while Bessa et al reduced proliferation by injecting MAM. MAM is a drug used to inhibit mitosis, and was chosen by Bessa et al because it offered advantages over X-irradiation. MAM allowed for a faster administration of antidepressants because it does not cause the dramatic swelling and damage to tissue that X-irradiation does.

     Santarelli et al and Bessa et al have contending views on the role that neurogenesis plays in the effect of antidepressant drugs. Santarelli et al tried to block the effects of antidepressants by X-irradiating to prove “…neurogenesis contributes to the effects of antidepressants…” Bessa et al used MAM-reduced neurogenesis to prove that “…mood-improving actions of antidepressants occur independently of their ability to stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis.”