Table 1.
Involvement of neurotrophins and growth factors in human depression and in animal models of depression
| Neurotrophins and growth factors | Models | Structures | Changes | References | Treatments | Effects | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) | Post-mortem brain analysis of suicide victims or depressed patients | HIP | ↓ | Dwivedi et al. (2003), Pandey et al. (2008) | Antidepressants | ↑ | Chen et al. (2001), Dunham et al. (2009) |
| PFC | ↓ | Dwivedi et al. (2003), Pandey et al. (2008) | |||||
| Acc | ↓ | Youssef et al. (2018) | |||||
| c.brainstem | ↓ | Youssef et al. (2018) | |||||
| Rat models of depression | Brain | Chronic antidepressant, ECT | ↑ | Altar et al. (2003), Balu et al. (2008), Jacobsen and Mork (2004), Nibuya et al. (1995) | |||
| PFC | ↓ | Zhang et al. (2015b) | Infusion of BDNF | Pro-depressive effect | Eisch et al. (2003) | ||
| VTA-Nac | ↑ | Shirayama et al. (2015), Zhang et al. (2015b) | Infusion of BDNF | Pro-depressive effect | Eisch et al. (2003) | ||
| Knockdown of BDNF | Antidepressant-like effect | Berton et al. (2006) | |||||
| HIP | ↓ | Zhang et al. (2015b) | Infusion of BDNF | Antidepressant-like effects | Deltheil et al. (2009), Shirayama et al. (2002), Sirianni et al. (2010) | ||
| Knockdown of BDNF | Pro-depressive behavior | Taliaz et al. (2010) | |||||
| Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) | Post-mortem brain analysis of depressed patients | dl PFC | ↓ | Evans et al. (2004) | |||
| Anterior cingulate cortex | ↓ | Evans et al. (2004) | |||||
| Depressed patients | HIP | ↓ | Gaughran et al. (2006) | ||||
| Rodent models of depression | HIP | ↓ | Turner et al. (2008a) | ||||
| Rats | Lateral ventricle | Infusion of FGF | Antidepressant-like effect | Turner et al. (2008b) | |||
| Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) | Rats with chronic stress | HIP | ↓ | Heine et al. (2005) | |||
| Rats | Antidepressant + VEGF | Antidepressant-like effect | Greene et al. (2009), Warner-Schmidt and Duman (2007) | ||||
| Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) | Post-mortem brain analysis of depressed patients | Parietal cortex | ↑ | Michel et al. (2008) | |||
| Rats | C6 glioblastoma cell line | Antidepressant treatment | GDNF release | Hisaoka et al. (2001) | |||
| PFC | Antidepressant treatment | ↑ | Angelucci et al. (2003b) | ||||
| HIP | ↓ | ||||||
| Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) | Depressed patients | serum | ↑ | Bot et al. (2016), Kopczak et al. (2015), Szczesny et al. (2013) | Antidepressants | ↓ | Bot et al. (2016), Kopczak et al. (2015) |
| Cerebrospinal fluid | Antidepressants | ↑ | Schilling et al. (2011) | ||||
| IGF-1 KO mice | Susceptibility to depression | Mitschelen et al. (2011) | |||||
| Rodents | Infusion of IGF-1 | Antidepressant effects | Duman et al. (2009), Hoshaw et al. (2005), Malberg et al. (2007), Park et al. (2011) | ||||
| Nerve growth factor | Rat models of depression | HIP | ECT | ↑ Antidepressant effect |
Aarse et al. (2016), Angelucci et al. (2003a), Overstreet et al. (2010) | ||
| Rat models of depression | HIP | NGF injections | ↑ Antidepressant effect |
Aarse et al. (2016). Angelucci et al. (2003a), Overstreet et al. (2010) |
MDD major depressive disorders, HIP hippocampus, PFC prefrontal cortex, Acc anterior cingulate cortex, c.brainstem caudal brainstem, ECT electroconvulsive therapy, VTA-NAc ventral tegmental area-nucleus accumbens, dl PFC dorsolateral PFC, SNRI serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor