Variable telomere length across post-mortem human brain regions and specific reduction in the hippocampus of major depressive disorder

Stress can be a predisposing factor to psychiatric disorders and has been associated with decreased neurogenesis and reduced hippocampal volume especially in depression. Similarly, in white blood cells chronic psychological stress has been associated with telomere shortening and with mood disorders...

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Published in:Translational psychiatry 2015-09, Vol.5 (9), p.e636-e636
Main Authors: Mamdani, F, Rollins, B, Morgan, L, Myers, R M, Barchas, J D, Schatzberg, A F, Watson, S J, Akil, H, Potkin, S G, Bunney, W E, Vawter, M P, Sequeira, P A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Analysis of Variance
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Psychology
Brain - pathology
Cadaver
Depressive Disorder, Major - genetics
Depressive Disorder, Major - pathology
Dissection
Female
Genetic Techniques
Hippocampus - pathology
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Neurosciences
Original
original-article
Pharmacotherapy
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Psychiatry
Telomere - genetics
Telomere - pathology
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Summary:Stress can be a predisposing factor to psychiatric disorders and has been associated with decreased neurogenesis and reduced hippocampal volume especially in depression. Similarly, in white blood cells chronic psychological stress has been associated with telomere shortening and with mood disorders and schizophrenia (SZ). However, in previous post-mortem brain studies from occipital cortex and cerebellum, no difference in telomere length was observed in depression. We hypothesized that in psychiatric disorders, stress-driven accelerated cellular aging can be observed in brain regions particularly sensitive to stress. Telomere length was measured by quantitative-PCR in five brain regions (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, hippocampus (HIPP), amygdala, nucleus accumbens and substantia nigra (SN)) in major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder, SZ and normal control subjects ( N =40, 10 subjects per group). We observed significant differences in telomere length across brain regions suggesting variable levels of cell aging, with SN and HIPP having the longest telomeres and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex the shortest. A significant decrease ( P
ISSN:2158-3188
2158-3188
DOI:10.1038/tp.2015.134