title: Increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) in elderly patients with major depression.
abstract: Neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) is a member of the neurotrophin gene family which supports the survival of specific neurons. NT-3 was shown to prevent the death of adult central noradrenergic neurons in vivo, a neuronal population which is associated with the pathophysiology of major depression. We quantitated CSF levels of NT-3 in elderly patients with major depression (DE) and compared them to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and mentally healthy control subjects (CTR). CSF levels of NT-3 were markedly and significantly elevated in the DE group, as compared to either the AD or the CTR group (P < 0.01, and P < 0.001, respectively). In terms of diagnostic accuracy, measurement of NT-3 levels in DE resulted in 73.9% sensitivity, and 89.7% specificity. Increased CSF levels of NT-3 may indicate a disturbance of the central noradrenergic system in patients with DE. NT-3 may constitute a biochemical candidate marker for clinical diagnosis and for the evaluation of therapeutic strategies in DE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry Research, University of Zürich, Switzerland. chock@bli-unizh.ch
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heese
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Müller-Spahn
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Riesen
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Nitsch
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Otten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020933:Neurotrophin 3 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000378:metabolism; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D009638:Norepinephrine