Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; KARF Hospital, the Korean Alcohol Research Foundation, Gyeonggido, Republic of Korea.
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Division of Brain Korea 21 Biomedical Science, Korea University, Republic of Korea.
J Affect Disord. 2012 Jan;136(1-2):181-184. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.07.021. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
The neurotrophic hypothesis suggests that mood disorders are associated with dysfunction of neuronal networks under the influence of neurotrophic factors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a neurotrophic factor as well as an angiogenic cytokine.
We examined plasma VEGF levels in 35 unipolar patients who were diagnosed with current major depressive disorder (MDD), 35 bipolar patients who were diagnosed with bipolar I disorder, manic episode (BM), and 60 healthy controls. The severity of depressive or manic symptoms was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) or the Young Mania rating scale (YMRS), respectively.
Plasma VEGF levels were 163.28±135.33 pg/mL in MDD patients, 199.82±182.59 pg/mL in BM patients, and 110.05±109.57 pg/mL in healthy controls. Both MDD and BM patients had significantly higher VEGF levels than healthy controls when controlling for BMI as a covariate (p=0.010). Patients' VEGF levels were not correlated with either HDRS or YMRS scores.
We assessed plasma VEGF levels at one time point, and we did not determine the source of VEGF in our samples.
Plasma VEGF levels were elevated in patients with acute episodes of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Such an alteration of VEGF in acute episode, mood disorders may be associated with a neuroprotective role for VEGF.
神经营养假说表明，情绪障碍与神经递质网络的功能障碍有关，而这种功能障碍受神经营养因子的影响。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）既是一种神经营养因子，也是一种血管生成细胞因子。
我们检测了 35 名单相抑郁发作患者（MDD）、35 名双相 I 型障碍、躁狂发作（BM）患者和 60 名健康对照者的血浆 VEGF 水平。分别使用汉密尔顿抑郁评定量表（HDRS）和 Young 躁狂评定量表（YMRS）评估抑郁或躁狂症状的严重程度。
MDD 患者的血浆 VEGF 水平为 163.28±135.33 pg/mL，BM 患者的血浆 VEGF 水平为 199.82±182.59 pg/mL，健康对照组的血浆 VEGF 水平为 110.05±109.57 pg/mL。控制 BMI 作为协变量时，MDD 和 BM 患者的 VEGF 水平均显著高于健康对照组（p=0.010）。患者的 VEGF 水平与 HDRS 或 YMRS 评分均无相关性。
我们仅在一个时间点评估了血浆 VEGF 水平，并且未确定我们样本中 VEGF 的来源。
在急性单相抑郁障碍和双相障碍患者中，血浆 VEGF 水平升高。VEGF 在急性发作、心境障碍中的这种改变可能与 VEGF 的神经保护作用有关。
