title: Decreased NOS1 expression in the anterior cingulate cortex in depression.
abstract: Decreased function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is crucially involved in the pathogenesis of depression. A key role of nitric oxide (NO) has also been proposed. We aimed to determine the NO content in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the expression of NO synthase (NOS) isoforms, that is, NOS1, NOS2, and NOS3 in the ACC in depression. In depressive patients, CSF-NOx levels (the levels of the NO metabolites nitrite and nitrate) were significantly decreased (P = 0.007), indicating a more general decrease of NO production in this disorder. This agreed with a trend toward lower NOS1-mRNA levels (P = 0.083) and a significant decrease of NOS1-immunoreactivity (ir) (P = 0.043) in ACC. In controls, there was a significant positive correlation between ACC-NOS1-ir cell densities and their CSF-NOx levels. Furthermore, both localization of NOS1 in pyramidal neurons that are known to be glutamatergic and co-localization between NOS1 and GABAergic neurons were observed in human ACC. The diminished ACC-NOS1 expression and decreased CSF-NOx levels may be involved in the alterations of ACC activity in depression, possibly by affecting glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, PR China and.
authors.forename: Shang-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xin-Rui
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Rawien
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balesar
authors.forename: Ai-Min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Dick F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
mesh_terms: D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D059330:GABAergic Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; C496320:NOS1 protein, human; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I