Kovaru Hana, Pav Marek, Kovaru Frantisek, Raboch Jiri, Fiserova Anna
1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2009;30(4):421-8.
CNS, endocrine and immune systems share the same molecules: neurotransmitters, cytokines and hormones to communicate within and among each other. Depression is associated with abnormalities in the noradrenergic, serotonergic and dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems and reductions in the level of their precursors and metabolic turnover. Most of these signalling molecules use trimeric G-proteins as a transduction system to transfer extracellular signal into cellular response. Altered levels or function of signalling proteins, especially alpha subunits of trimeric G-proteins, were found in post-mortem brain tissue and leukocytes of subject suffering from major depression. There is a considerable evidence that inflammatory response and immune system changes are the part of depression. Components of cellular immune system natural killer cells, important effectors of immune surveillance, are sensitive to stress response, and their functions are compromised in depressive subjects. Many lines of evidence also point to the loss of both neuronal and glial plasticity and neurotrophic factor support under chronic stress or in depression. There is an increasing knowledge of the role of astrocytic cells in neuroplastic processes and neurotransmitter metabolism. Alterations in the glial populations are observed in major depressive subjects. Antidepressant treatment is modulating glial signalization cascades, increasing production of neurotrophic molecules, supporting neuroplasticity processes, and also modulating functions of natural killers. At the level of membrane signalling, antidepressants show a direct influence upon G alpha subunit levels in both immune system and CNS. These findings support the view that antidepressants influence activity of natural killer and astrocytic populations, and this could be of importance in the depression etiopathogenesis and/or treatment.
中枢神经系统、内分泌系统和免疫系统共享相同的分子:神经递质、细胞因子和激素,以便在各自内部以及相互之间进行通信。抑郁症与去甲肾上腺素能、血清素能和多巴胺能神经递质系统的异常以及它们的前体水平和代谢周转率的降低有关。这些信号分子中的大多数使用三聚体G蛋白作为转导系统,将细胞外信号转化为细胞反应。在患有重度抑郁症的受试者的死后脑组织和白细胞中发现了信号蛋白水平或功能的改变,尤其是三聚体G蛋白的α亚基。有大量证据表明炎症反应和免疫系统变化是抑郁症的一部分。细胞免疫系统的组成部分自然杀伤细胞是免疫监视的重要效应器,对压力反应敏感,其功能在抑郁症患者中受损。许多证据也表明,在慢性应激或抑郁症状态下,神经元和神经胶质细胞的可塑性以及神经营养因子的支持都会丧失。人们对星形胶质细胞在神经可塑性过程和神经递质代谢中的作用的认识越来越多。在重度抑郁症患者中观察到神经胶质细胞群的改变。抗抑郁治疗正在调节神经胶质细胞信号级联反应,增加神经营养分子的产生,支持神经可塑性过程,同时也调节自然杀伤细胞的功能。在膜信号传导水平上,抗抑郁药对免疫系统和中枢神经系统中的Gα亚基水平都有直接影响。这些发现支持了这样一种观点,即抗抑郁药会影响自然杀伤细胞和星形胶质细胞群的活性,这可能在抑郁症的病因学和/或治疗中具有重要意义。