TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kittel-Schneider, Sarah
A1  - Davidova, Petra
A1  - Kalok, Miriam
A1  - Essel, Corina
A1  - Ahmed, Fadia Ben
A1  - Kingeter, Yasmina
A1  - Matentzoglu, Maria
A1  - Leutritz, Anna
A1  - Kersken, Katharina
A1  - Koreny, Carolin
A1  - Weber, Heike
A1  - Kollert, Leoniee
A1  - McNeill, Rihannon V.
A1  - Reif, Andreas
A1  - Bahlmann, Franz
A1  - Trautmann-Villalba, Patricia
T1  - A pilot study of multilevel analysis of BDNF in paternal and maternal perinatal depression
JF  - Archives of Women's Mental Health
N2  - Depression in the perinatal period is common in mothers worldwide. Emerging research indicates that fathers are also at risk of developing perinatal depression. However, knowledge regarding biological risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms of perinatal depression is still scarce, particularly in fathers. It has been suggested that the neurotrophin BDNF may play a role in maternal perinatal depression; however, there is currently no data regarding paternal perinatal depression. For this pilot study, 81 expecting parents were recruited and assessed at several time points. We screened for depression using EPDS and MADRS, investigated several psychosocial variables, and took blood samples for BDNF val66met genotyping, epigenetic, and protein analysis. Between pregnancy and 12 months postpartum (pp), we found that 3.7 to 15.7% of fathers screened positive for depression, and 9.6 to 24% of mothers, with at least a twofold increased prevalence in both parents using MADRS compared with EPDS. We also identified several psychosocial factors associated with perinatal depression in both parents. The data revealed a trend that lower BDNF levels correlated with maternal depressive symptoms at 3 months pp. In the fathers, no significant correlations between BDNF and perinatal depression were found. Pregnant women demonstrated lower BDNF methylation and BDNF protein expression compared with men; however, these were found to increase postpartum. Lastly, we identified correlations between depressive symptoms and psychosocial/neurobiological factors. The data suggest that BDNF may play a role in maternal perinatal depression, but not paternal.
KW  - gene
KW  - paternal
KW  - maternal
KW  - postnatal depression
KW  - BDNF
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-268849
SN  - 1435-1102
VL  - 25
IS  - 1
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  -