Glial fibrillary acidic protein is reduced in cerebellum of subjects with major depression, but not schizophrenia.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a major protein of astrocyte intermediate filaments and a specific marker for astrocytes. Alterations in levels of GFAP may reflect pathological regulation of neuronal function and survival as well as abnormal synaptogenesis and neurotransmission. We employed quantitative gel electrophoresis and Western blotting to measure levels of GFAP in cerebella of 60 subjects divided equally among schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and normal controls. GFAP levels were reduced by 32%, 17% and 14.5% in depressed, bipolar, and schizophrenic cerebella, respectively, versus controls. Only the depressed value was significantly different (p=0.015 Post-hoc Bonferroni test). Measurement of beta-actin levels showed no differences between the various groups. No significant effects of confounding variables were found. This is the first demonstration of GFAP reductions in cerebellum of subjects with mood disorders and schizophrenia, thereby adding to the reports of reductions in GFAP/glial cell counts in other brain regions of subjects with major depression, thus suggesting a downregulation of glial function in this disorder.
Division of Neuroscience Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, MMC 392, Delaware Street 420, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. fatem002@umn.edu
S Hossein
SH
Fatemi
Jessica A
JA
Laurence
Mohsen
M
Araghi-Niknam
Joel M
JM
Stary
S Charles
SC
Schulz
Susanne
S
Lee
Irving I
II
Gottesman
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D003720:Densitometry / Q000379:methods; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein