Altered expression of neurotrophic factors in patients with major depression

There is an abundance of evidence suggesting the involvement of altered levels of expression of neurotrophic factors in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. Although postmortem brain studies have indicated the alterations in the expression levels of neurotrophic factors in mood disorder patients, it is unclear whether these changes are state- or trait-dependent. In this study, we examined the expression levels of the members of the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family (GDNF, artemin (ARTN), neurturin, and persephin), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), and neurotrophin-4 mRNAs by using quantitative real-time PCR method in peripheral blood cells of patients with major depressive and bipolar disorders in both a current depressive and a remissive states. Reduced expression levels of GDNF, ARTN, and NT-3 mRNAs were found in patients with major depressive disorder in a current depressive state, but not in a remissive state. Altered expressions of these mRNAs were not found in patients with bipolar disorder. Our results suggest that the changes in the expression levels of GDNF, ARTN, and NT-3 mRNAs might be state-dependent and associated with the pathophysiology of major depression.