title: Alterations of neuronal precursor cells in stages of human adult neurogenesis in heroin addicts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adult neurogenesis has been shown to occur throughout life and different brain pathologies were demonstrated to be associated with altered neurogenesis. Here, an impact of heroin addiction on neurogenesis in humans is hypothesised.
  
  
  METHODS
  Post mortem hippocampal specimens of drug addicts with known heroin abuse and a group of non-addictive control subjects were analysed, using antibodies indicating different stages of neurogenesis. The subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus was examined qualitatively and quantitatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The data indicate (i) a decreased number of neural precursor cells, (ii) accompanied by low rates of proliferation and (iii) a marked loss of dendritic trees in targeting cells in heroin fatalities. (iv) The age-dependent increase of differentiating cells in the healthy controls was not observed in the addicts. Additionally, double immunofluorescence labelling indicated the precursor nature of Musashi-1 positive cells in the human subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Present data firstly demonstrate the influence of drug addiction with known heroin abuse on different developmental stages of progenitors in the dentate gyrus. The patterns of antibody staining suggest a distinct inhibition of neurogenesis at the stage of neural precursor cells and revealed morphological changes in targeting cells in cases of heroin addicts as compared to healthy controls. These alterations could be considerable for memory and cognitive deficits as well as addictive behaviour in chronic drug abusers and may give rise to specific pro-neurogenic therapies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.affiliation: Rudolf-Boehm-Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.affiliation: Rudolf-Boehm-Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ficker
authors.affiliation: Rudolf-Boehm-Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, D-04107 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Halle-Wittenberg, D-06112 Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lessig
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, Rostock University Medical Centre, D-18055 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Büttner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Halle-Wittenberg, D-06112 Halle (Saale), Germany. Electronic address: marko.weber@uk-halle.de.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Drug abuse; Heroin; Hippocampus; Human; Neural precursor cell; Neurogenesis