Frisch Christian, Hanke Joachim, Kleinerüschkamp Sven, Röske Sandra, Kaaden Sabine, Elger Christian E, Schramm Johannes, Yilmazer-Hanke Denis M, Helmstaedter Christoph
Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Medical Center, Sigmund Freud-Strasse 25, Bonn 53105, Germany.
Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Sep 1;66(5):433-40. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.03.025. Epub 2009 May 31.
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) has been implicated in depression, anxiety, and memory. Expression of human NPY and the number of NPY-positive neurons in the rodent amygdala correlate with anxiety and stress-related behavior. Increased NPY expression in the epileptic brain is supposed to represent an adaptive mechanism counteracting epilepsy-related hyperexcitability. We attempted to investigate whether NPY-positive neurons in the human amygdala are involved in these processes.
In 34 adult epileptic patients undergoing temporal lobe surgery for seizure control, the density of NPY-positive neurons was assessed in the basal, lateral, and accessory-basal amygdala nuclei. Cell counts were related to self-reported depression, anxiety, quality of life, clinical parameters (onset and duration of epilepsy, seizure frequency), antiepileptic medication, and amygdala and hippocampal magnetic resonance imaging volumetric measures.
Densities of NPY-positive basolateral amygdala neurons showed significant positive correlations with depression and anxiety scores, and they were negatively correlated with lamotrigine dosage. In contrast, NPY cell counts showed no relation to clinical factors or amygdalar and hippocampal volumes.
The results point to a role of amygdalar NPY in negative emotion and might reflect state processes at least in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Correlations with common clinical parameters of epilepsy were not found. The question of a disease-related reduction of the density of NPY-positive amygdalar neurons in temporal lobe epilepsy requires further investigation.
神经肽Y（NPY）与抑郁、焦虑和记忆有关。人类NPY的表达以及啮齿动物杏仁核中NPY阳性神经元的数量与焦虑和应激相关行为相关。癫痫脑中NPY表达的增加被认为是一种抵消癫痫相关过度兴奋的适应性机制。我们试图研究人类杏仁核中的NPY阳性神经元是否参与这些过程。
在34名接受颞叶手术以控制癫痫发作的成年癫痫患者中，评估了基底、外侧和副基底杏仁核核团中NPY阳性神经元的密度。细胞计数与自我报告的抑郁、焦虑、生活质量、临床参数（癫痫发作的起始和持续时间、发作频率）、抗癫痫药物治疗以及杏仁核和海马的磁共振成像体积测量值相关。
NPY阳性基底外侧杏仁核神经元密度与抑郁和焦虑评分呈显著正相关，与拉莫三嗪剂量呈负相关。相比之下，NPY细胞计数与临床因素或杏仁核和海马体积无关。
结果表明杏仁核NPY在负面情绪中起作用，至少在颞叶癫痫患者中可能反映状态过程。未发现与癫痫常见临床参数的相关性。颞叶癫痫中NPY阳性杏仁核神经元密度是否存在与疾病相关的降低这一问题需要进一步研究。
