Dept of Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Sciences Institute I, São Paulo University, Ave Lineu Prestes 1524, 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Dept of Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Sciences Institute I, São Paulo University, Ave Lineu Prestes 1524, 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Behav Brain Res. 2021 Jan 1;396:112909. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112909. Epub 2020 Sep 17.
Depression is a prevalent disease in modern society, and has been linked to stressful events at early ages. Women are more susceptible to depression, and the neural basis for this are still under investigation. Serotonin is known to be involved in depression, and a decrease in 5HT expression is observed on temporal and cortical areas in both men and women with depression. As knockout animals for TREK-1 are resilient to depression, this channel has emerged as a new potential pharmacological target for depression treatment. In this study, maternal separation (MS) was used to emulate early-life stress, and evaluate behaviour, as well as TREK-1 and 5HT expression in the brain using immunohistochemistry. In juvenile females, 5HT reduction coupled to increased TREK-1 in the dentate gyrus (DG) was associated with behavioural despair, as well as increased TREK-1 expression in basolateral amygdala (BLA) and prelimbic cortex (PL). In juvenile males, MS induced an increase in 5HT in the BLA, and in TREK-1 in the PL, while no behavioural despair was observed. Anhedonia and anxiety-like behaviour were not induced by MS. We conclude stress-induced increase in TREK-1 in PL and GD is associated to depression, while 5HT changes coupled to TREK-1 changes may be necessary to induce depression, with females being more vulnerable to MS effects than males. Thus, TREK-1 and 5HT may be potential pharmacological targets for antidepressants development.
抑郁症是现代社会中一种常见的疾病,与早年的应激事件有关。女性更容易患抑郁症,其神经基础仍在研究中。已知 5-羟色胺(5HT)与抑郁症有关,抑郁症患者的颞叶和皮质区域中观察到 5HT 表达减少。由于 TREK-1 的敲除动物对抑郁症有抵抗力,因此该通道已成为治疗抑郁症的新的潜在药理学靶点。在这项研究中,采用母婴分离(MS)来模拟早期生活应激,并使用免疫组织化学评估行为以及大脑中的 TREK-1 和 5HT 表达。在幼年雌性动物中,与行为绝望相关的齿状回(DG)中 5HT 减少与 TREK-1 增加有关,而外侧杏仁核(BLA)和前扣带回皮质(PL)中的 TREK-1 表达增加。在幼年雄性动物中,MS 诱导 BLA 中的 5HT 增加和 PL 中的 TREK-1 增加,但未观察到行为绝望。MS 没有引起快感缺失和焦虑样行为。我们得出结论,应激诱导的 PL 和 GD 中 TREK-1 的增加与抑郁症有关,而与 TREK-1 变化相关的 5HT 变化可能是诱导抑郁症所必需的,女性比男性更容易受到 MS 影响。因此,TREK-1 和 5HT 可能是抗抑郁药开发的潜在药理学靶点。