TY  - JOUR
A1  - Galimberti, Daniela
A1  - Dell'Osso, Bernardo
A1  - Fenoglio, Chiara
A1  - Villa, Chiara
A1  - Cortini, Francesca
A1  - Serpente, Maria
A1  - Kittel-Schneider, Sarah
A1  - Weigl, Johannes
A1  - Neuner, Maria
A1  - Volkert, Juliane
A1  - Leonhard, C.
A1  - Olmes, David G.
A1  - Kopf, Juliane
A1  - Cantoni, Claudia
A1  - Ridolfi, Elisa
A1  - Palazzo, Carlotta
A1  - Ghezzi, Laura
A1  - Bresolin, Nereo
A1  - Altamura, A.C.
A1  - Scarpini, Elio
A1  - Reif, Andreas
T1  - Progranulin Gene Variability and Plasma Levels in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
JF  - PLoS One
N2  - Basing on the assumption that frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BPD) might share common aetiological mechanisms, we analyzed genetic variation in the FTLD risk gene progranulin (GRN) in a German population of patients with schizophrenia (n=271) or BPD (n=237) as compared with 574 age-, gender-and ethnicity-matched controls. Furthermore, we measured plasma progranulin levels in 26 German BPD patients as well as in 61 Italian BPD patients and 29 matched controls. A significantly decreased allelic frequency of the minor versus the wild-type allele was observed for rs2879096 (23.2 versus 34.2%, P<0.001, OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.49-0.80), rs4792938 (30.7 versus 39.7%, P=0.005, OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.55-0.89) and rs5848 (30.3 versus 36.8, P=0.007, OR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.56-0.91). Mean +/- SEM progranulin plasma levels were significantly decreased in BPD patients, either Germans or Italians, as compared with controls (89.69 +/- 3.97 and 116.14 +/- 5.80 ng/ml, respectively, versus 180.81 +/- 18.39 ng/ml P<0.001) and were not correlated with age. In conclusion, GRN variability decreases the risk to develop BPD and schizophrenia, and progranulin plasma levels are significantly lower in BPD patients than in controls. Nevertheless, a larger replication analysis would be needed to confirm these preliminary results.
KW  - people
KW  - frontotemporal lobar degeneration
KW  - genome-wide association
KW  - Alzheimers disease
KW  - risk genes
KW  - dementia
KW  - GRN
KW  - mutation
KW  - families
KW  - linkage
Y1  - 2012
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131910
VL  - 7
IS  - 4
ER  - 
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  -