Altered expression of neurotrophic factors in patients with major depression.

Abstract

There is an abundance of evidence suggesting the involvement of altered levels of expression of neurotrophic factors in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. Although postmortem brain studies have indicated the alterations in the expression levels of neurotrophic factors in mood disorder patients, it is unclear whether these changes are state- or trait-dependent. In this study, we examined the expression levels of the members of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family (GDNF, artemin (ARTN), neurturin, and persephin), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4 mRNAs by using quantitative real-time PCR method in peripheral blood cells of patients with major depressive and bipolar disorders in both a current depressive and a remissive states. Reduced expression levels of GDNF, ARTN, and NT-3 mRNAs were found in patients with major depressive disorder in a current depressive state, but not in a remissive state. Altered expressions of these mRNAs were not found in patients with bipolar disorder. Our results suggest that the changes in the expression levels of GDNF, ARTN, and NT-3 mRNAs might be state-dependent and associated with the pathophysiology of major depression.

• Authors: Koji Otsuki, Shusaku Uchida, Toshio Watanuki, Yusuke Wakabayashi, Michiko Fujimoto, Toshio Matsubara, Hiromasa Funato, Yoshifumi Watanabe
• Journal: Journal of psychiatric research (J Psychiatr Res) Vol. 42 Issue 14 Pg. 1145-53 (Oct 2008) ISSN: 0022-3956 [Print] England
• PMID: 18313696 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• ARTN protein, human
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
• Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
• Nerve Growth Factors
• Nerve Tissue Proteins
• Neurotrophin 3
• Neurturin
• RNA, Messenger
• persephin
• Adrenocorticotropic Hormone
• Nerve Growth Factor
• neurotrophin 4
• Hydrocortisone

Topics

• Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (blood)
• Analysis of Variance
• Bipolar Disorder (blood, genetics, pathology)
• Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (genetics)
• Depressive Disorder, Major (blood, genetics, pathology)
• Female
• Gene Expression Profiling
• Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (genetics)
• Humans
• Hydrocortisone (blood)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Nerve Growth Factor (genetics)
• Nerve Growth Factors (genetics)
• Nerve Tissue Proteins (genetics)
• Neurotrophin 3 (genetics)
• Neurturin (genetics)
• RNA, Messenger (genetics, metabolism)
• Radioimmunoassay
• Remission, Spontaneous
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction