title: Evidence for oxidative stress in the frontal cortex in patients with recurrent depressive disorder--a postmortem study.
abstract: Prefrontal cortical (PFC) and hippocampal (HI) volume reductions have been consistently found in patients with recurrent depressive disorder (DD). Here we examine the possibility that oxidative stress, widely implicated in neuronal cell damage, may contribute to these brain structural changes. We compared manganese (Mn) and copper/zinc (Cu/Zn) superoxide dismutase (SOD) coenzyme concentrations in postmortem PFC and hippocampal brain tissue from 7 patients with DD and 7 neuropsychiatrically healthy controls using sandwich-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The concentration of Cu/Zn-SOD was significantly increased in the PFC but not in the hippocampus of patients. There was no significant change in Mn-SOD enzyme concentration in either region. Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence implicating oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of depressive disorder.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neurochemistry, Department Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Würzburg, Fürchsleinstr. 15, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. T.Michel@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tanja Maria
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frangou
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thiemeyer
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Camara
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jecel
authors.forename: Keinosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nara
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brunklaus
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zoechling
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riederer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D012008:Recurrence; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013482:Superoxide Dismutase