title: Involvement of fractalkine and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha in moderate-severe depression.
abstract: Moderate-severe depression (MSD) is linked to overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Fractalkine (FKN) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1alpha) are, respectively, members of CX3C and C-C chemokines, and both are involved in recruiting and activating mononuclear phagocytes in the central nervous system. We analysed the presence of FKN and MIP-1alpha in sera of untreated MSD patients and healthy donors. High FKN levels were observed in all MSD patients as compared with values only detectable in 26% of healthy donors. MIP-1alpha was measurable in 20% of patients, while no healthy donors showed detectable chemokine levels. In conclusion, we describe a previously unknown involvement of FKN in the pathogenesis of MSD, suggesting that FKN may represent a target for a specific immune therapy of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Immunopathology, Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosaria Alba
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Merendino
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Pasquale
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Pasquale
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferlazzo
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.forename: Maura Carmela
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.forename: Fortunato
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morabito
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gangemi
mesh_terms: D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D054428:Chemokine CX3CL1; D020523:Chemokines, CX3C / Q000097:blood*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: C515538:CX3CL1 protein, human; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D054428:Chemokine CX3CL1; D020523:Chemokines, CX3C; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins