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Disturbances in the activity of the corticotropic axis and immune system have been widely reported to be linked to the development of depression. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of ketoconazole, an imidazole derivative that inhibits gonadal and adrenal steroidogenesis, on changes in the total leukocyte count and the percentages of leukocyte subpopulations during the Porsolt forced swimming test (commonly used to measure the efficiency of antidepressants) in rats. Catheters were implanted in the carotid under general anesthesia, and blood samples (0.2 mL) were taken at 15 min intervals. Animals were allowed to move freely throughout the experiments. The levels of anxiety and locomotor activity were measured using the elevated plus-maze and open-field tests. Forced swimming induced changes in both the testosteronemia and the immune system, and these changes were inhibited by treatment with ketoconazole. An improvement (anxiolytic and antidepressant effects) in the behavioral response (elevated plus maze, forced swim) was also observed. These results suggest that the relationship between behavioral and physiological responses is multifactorial and that corticosterone plays a major role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders.

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The main objective of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between smoking and depression/ anxiety, and specially the direction of this relationship, in order to analyze the link between the degree of dependence to nicotine, and the anxio-depressive levels, according to HADS test and the Fagerstrom test of nicotine dependence. Our study included 647 smokers and 400 non-smoking male. To facilitate this study, we distributed questionnaires to several private GP surgeries, to be completed by patients. In this study, we found that there is a close relationship between the level of nicotine addiction, anxiety levels and the emergence of depressive disorders. A highly depressive state implies a very strong addiction to tobacco; a high percentage of subjects showed little or no tobacco dependence. When anxiety appears (even when non-significant) dependence increases from medium to high, and very high, whereas in the absence of depression, 80% to 90% of patients show no tobacco addiction. The addiction to tobacco increases at the beginning of depression and reach her maximum in depressed patients. Thus, the anxiolytic effect of nicotine becomes an anxiogenic effect in anxious subjects, when subjects move from non-dependence to medium and very strong addiction.