Bipolar disorder is a devastating major mental illness associated with higher rates of suicide and work loss. There is an emerging body of data suggesting that bipolar disorder is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. In this context, the present study aims to investigate brain mitochondrial respiratory chain activity in an animal model of mania induced by ouabain. Adult male Wistar rats received a single intracerebroventricular administration of ouabain (10-3 and 10-2 M) or vehicle (control group). Locomotor activity was measured using the open field test. Mitochondrial respiratory chain activity was measured in the brain of rats immediately (1 hour) and 7 days after ouabain administration. Our results showed that spontaneous locomotion was increased immediately and 7 days after ouabain administration. Complexes I, III and IV activities were increased in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum immediately after the administration of ouabain, at the concentration of 10-3 and 10-2 M. Moreover, complex activity II was increased only in the prefrontal cortex at the concentration of 10-2 M. On the other hand, no significant alterations were observed in complex I activity 7 days after the ouabain administration; an increase in the activities of complexes II, III and IV were observed only in the prefrontal cortex after 10-2 M ouabain administration. In conclusion, we observed that mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes activities increased in the brain of rats immediately after administration of ouabain, which remains up to 7 days.