title: S100B-immunopositive astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the hippocampus are differentially afflicted in unipolar and bipolar depression: a postmortem study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have suggested that affective disorders are characterized by glial pathology. In this context, it has been hypothesized that elevated S100B serum and cerebrospinal fluid levels may represent a suitable surrogate marker. However, brain studies on the cellular distribution pattern of S100B in depressed patients are lacking so far. Such analyses are crucial, since S100B has been detected in various other cell types, even outside the central nervous system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therefore, we performed a first postmortem analysis on this topic in the hippocampus--which is of major importance for emotional and cognitive aspects of affective disorders. S100B-immunopositive astrocytes and oligodendrocytes were evaluated in the alveus and the CA1 pyramidal layer of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar I disorder (BD) compared to controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As revealed by the optical disector cell-counting method, the numerical density of S100B-immunopositive astrocytes was bilaterally decreased in the CA1 pyramidal layer of MDD and BD patients compared to controls, whereas only the bipolar group showed a decreased density of S100B-immunopositive oligodendrocytes in the left alveus. These results were not confounded by gender, age, duration of disease, medication dosage, or autolysis time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Confirming the idea of previous S100B serum and cerebrospinal fluid studies, our data suggest that S100B-immunopositive glia is dysregulated in the brains of depressed patients. These findings are in accordance with animal experiments in rodents showing a reduced astrocytic S100B-immunoreactivity in the hippocampus after pharmacological serotonin depletion (modeling depression).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Magdeburg, Germany; Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gos
authors.forename: Matthias L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Schroeter
authors.forename: Wiebke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lessel
authors.forename: Hans-Gert
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dobrowolny
authors.forename: Kolja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schiltz
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bogerts
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steiner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; C579160:S100B protein, human
keywords: Depression; S-100B; S100 beta; S100B; bipolar disorder; histopathology; major depressive disorder; postmortem