scholarly journals Characterization of GABAergic Marker Expression in the Chronic Unpredictable Stress Model of Depression

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 247054701772045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mounira Banasr ◽  
Ashley Lepack ◽  
Corey Fee ◽  
Vanja Duric ◽  
Jaime Maldonado-Aviles ◽  
...  

Background Evidence continues to build suggesting that the GABAergic neurotransmitter system is altered in brains of patients with major depressive disorder. However, there is little information available related to the extent of these changes or the potential mechanisms associated with these alterations. As stress is a well-established precipitant to depressive episodes, we sought to explore the impact of chronic stress on GABAergic interneurons. Methods Using western blot analyses and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, we assessed the effects of five-weeks of chronic unpredictable stress exposure on the expression of GABA-synthesizing enzymes (GAD65 and GAD67), calcium-binding proteins (calbindin, parvalbumin, and calretinin), and neuropeptides co-expressed in GABAergic neurons (somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and cholecystokinin) in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats. We also investigated the effects of corticosterone and dexamethasone exposure on these markers in vitro in primary cortical and hippocampal cultures. Results We found that chronic unpredictable stress induced significant reductions of GAD67 protein levels in both the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of chronic unpredictable stress-exposed rats but did not detect changes in GAD65 protein expression. Similar protein expression changes were found in vitro in cortical neurons. In addition, our results provide clear evidence of reduced markers of interneuron population(s), namely somatostatin and neuropeptide Y, in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting these cell types may be selectively vulnerable to chronic stress. Conclusion Together, this work highlights that chronic stress induces regional and cell type-selective effects on GABAergic interneurons in rats. These findings provide additional supporting evidence that stress-induced GABA neuron dysfunction and cell vulnerability play critical roles in the pathophysiology of stress-related illnesses, including major depressive disorder.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting An ◽  
Zhenhua Song ◽  
Jin-Hui Wang

Abstract Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disease that seriously endangers human health and mental state. Chronic stress and lack of reward may reduce the function of the brain's reward circuits, leading to major depressive disorder. The effect of reward treatment on chronic stress-induced depression-like behaviors and its molecular mechanism in the brain remain unclear.Methods Mice were divided into the groups of control, chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and CUMS-companion. Mice of CUMS group was performed by CUMS for 4 weeks, and CUMS-companion group was treated by CUMS accompanied with companion. The tests of sucrose preference, Y-maze, and forced swimming were conducted to assess depression-like behaviors or resilience. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze mRNA and miRNA profiles in the medial prefrontal cortex harvested from control, CUMS-MDD (mice with depression-like behaviors in CUMS group), Reward-MDD (mice with depression-like behaviors in CUMS-companion group), CUMS-resilience (resilient mice in CUMS group), Reward-resilience (resilient mice in CUMS-companion group) mice.Results The results provided evidence that accompanying with companion ameliorated CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors in mice. 45 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are associated with depression-like behaviors, 8 DEGs are associated with resilience and 59 DEGs are associated with nature reward (companion) were identified. Furthermore, 196 differentially expressed miRNAs were found to be associated with companion. Based on the differentially expressed miRNAs and DEGs data, miRNA-mRNA network was established to be associated with companion.Conclusion Taken together, our data here provided a method to ameliorate depression-like behaviors, and numerous potential drug targets for the prevention or treatment of depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly J. Heard ◽  
Maxim N. Shokhirev ◽  
Caroline Becronis ◽  
Callie Fredlender ◽  
Nadia Zahid ◽  
...  

AbstractMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder, and exposure to stress is a robust risk factor for MDD. Clinical data and rodent models have indicated the negative impact of chronic exposure to stress-induced hormones like cortisol on brain volume, memory, and cell metabolism. However, the cellular and transcriptomic changes that occur in the brain after prolonged exposure to cortisol are less understood. Furthermore, the astrocyte-specific contribution to cortisol-induced neuropathology remains understudied. Here, we have developed an in vitro model of “chronic stress” using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived astrocytes treated with cortisol for 7 days. Whole transcriptome sequencing reveals differentially expressed genes (DEGs) uniquely regulated in chronic cortisol compared to acute cortisol treatment. Utilizing this paradigm, we examined the stress response transcriptome of astrocytes generated from MDD patient iPSCs. The MDD-specific DEGs are related to GPCR ligand binding, synaptic signaling, and ion homeostasis. Together, these data highlight the unique role astrocytes play in the central nervous system and present interesting genes for future study into the relationship between chronic stress and MDD.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1728
Author(s):  
Dinyadarshini Johnson ◽  
Sivakumar Thurairajasingam ◽  
Vengadesh Letchumanan ◽  
Kok-Gan Chan ◽  
Learn-Han Lee

The field of probiotic has been exponentially expanding over the recent decades with a more therapeutic-centered research. Probiotics mediated microbiota modulation within the microbiota–gut–brain axis (MGBA) have been proven to be beneficial in various health domains through pre-clinical and clinical studies. In the context of mental health, although probiotic research is still in its infancy stage, the promising role and potential of probiotics in various mental disorders demonstrated via in-vivo and in-vitro studies have laid a strong foundation for translating preclinical models to humans. The exploration of the therapeutic role and potential of probiotics in major depressive disorder (MDD) is an extremely noteworthy field of research. The possible etio-pathological mechanisms of depression involving inflammation, neurotransmitters, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and epigenetic mechanisms potentially benefit from probiotic intervention. Probiotics, both as an adjunct to antidepressants or a stand-alone intervention, have a beneficial role and potential in mitigating anti-depressive effects, and confers some advantages compared to conventional treatments of depression using anti-depressants.


RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (31) ◽  
pp. 25751-25765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyu Yu ◽  
Shanlei Qiao ◽  
Di Wang ◽  
Jiayong Dai ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
...  

An untargeted metabolomics study to investigate the metabolome change in plasma, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) in an animal model with a major depressive disorder (MDD) had been conducted.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1219-1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Nixon ◽  
P. F. Liddle ◽  
G. Worwood ◽  
M. Liotti ◽  
E. Nixon

BackgroundRecent models of major depressive disorder (MDD) have proposed the rostral anterior cingulate (rACC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) as nexus sites in the dysfunctional regulation of cognitive-affective state. Limited evidence from remitted-state MDD supports these theories by suggesting that aberrant neural activity proximal to the rACC and the dmPFC may play a role in vulnerability to recurrence/relapse within this disorder. Here we present a targeted analysis assessing functional activity within these two regions of interest (ROIs) for groups with identified vulnerability to MDD: first, remitted, high predicted recurrence-risk patients; and second, patients suffering observed 1-year recurrence.MethodBaseline T2* images sensitive to blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast were acquired from patients and controls during a Go/No-Go (GNG) task incorporating negative feedback, with 1-year patient follow-up to identify recurrence. BOLD contrast data for error commission (EC) and visual negative feedback (VNF) were used in an ROI analysis based on rACC and dmPFC coordinates from the literature, comparing patientsversuscontrols and recurrenceversusnon-recurrenceversuscontrol groups.ResultsAnalysis of patients (n = 20)versuscontrols (n = 20) showed significant right dmPFC [Brodmann area (BA) 9] hypoactivity within the patient group, co-localized during EC and VNF, with additional significant rACC (BA 32) hypoactivity during EC. The results from the follow-up analysis were undermined by small groups and potential confounders but suggested persistent right dmPFC (BA 9) hypoactivity associated with 1-year recurrence.ConclusionsConvergent hypoactive right dmPFC (BA 9) processing of VNF and EC, possibly impairing adaptive reappraisal of negative experience, was associated most clearly with clinically predicted vulnerability to MDD.


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