Tianeptine sodium salt, a selective serotonin reuptake enhancer (SSRE), is used to treat major depressive episodes.

Tianeptine attenuates behavioral symptoms induced by peripheral, but not central, administration of LPS or IL-1β in rats. It normalizes the scaling ratio of NMDA receptor-mediated to AMPA/kainate receptor-mediated current amplitudes and prevents the stress-induced reduction in NMDA-EPSC inactivation. Tianeptine treatment prevents the increase in corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA levels in the dBNST triggered by CMS and reduces CRF mRNA levels in the dBNST of non-stressed rats. In anesthetized rats, Tianeptine blocks stress-induced PB inhibition in the basolateral amygdala's CA1 region without affecting stress-induced LTP enhancement. Tianeptine administration under non-stress conditions enhances PB in the amygdala, hippocampus, and LTP in anesthetized rats. Tianeptine significantly decreases cell apoptosis in the rat temporal cortex and hippocampal dentate gyrus in both control and stressed animals but does not affect the Ammons horn. It notably increases extracellular concentrations of homovanillic acid and vanilmandelic acid in the nucleus accumbens and striatum. Intraperitoneal injection of 2.5 mg/kg Tianeptine in the nucleus accumbens alone increases extracellular dopamine.