TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kittel-Schneider, Sarah
A1  - Kenis, Gunter
A1  - Schek, Julia
A1  - van den Hove, Daniel
A1  - Prickaerts, Jos
A1  - Lesch, Klaus-Peter
A1  - Steinbusch, Harry
A1  - Reif, Andreas
T1  - Expression of monoamine transporters, nitric oxide synthase 3, and neurotrophin genes in antidepressant-stimulated astrocytes
JF  - Frontiers in Psychiatry
N2  - Background: There is increasing evidence that glial cells play a role in the pathomechanisms of mood disorders and the mode of action of antidepressant drugs. 
Methods: To examine whether there is a direct effect on the expression of different genes encoding proteins that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of affective disorders, primary astrocyte cell cultures from rats were treated with two different antidepressant drugs, imipramine and escitalopram, and the RNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf), serotonin transporter (5Htt), dopamine transporter (Dat), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (Nos3) was examined. 
Results: Stimulation of astroglial cell culture with imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant, led to a significant increase of the Bdnf RNA level whereas treatment with escitalopram did not. In contrast, 5Htt was not differentially expressed after antidepressant treatment. Finally, neither Dat nor Nos3 RNA expression was detected in cultured astrocytes. 
Conclusion: These data provide further evidence for a role of astroglial cells in the molecular mechanisms of action of antidepressants.
KW  - monoamine transporters
KW  - BDNF
KW  - geneexpression
KW  - astrocytes
KW  - glia
KW  - depression
KW  - antidepressant
KW  - mechanismofaction
KW  - nitricoxidesynthase
Y1  - 2012
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123627
VL  - 3
ER  -