anti-depressants and brain cells

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How Anti-Depressants Create New Brain Cells

Science Daily <http://www.sciencedaily.com> -- Antidepressants increase

the presence of a growth factor in the brain, which then leads to a

proliferation of new cells, according to a study by Yale School of

Medicine researchers in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences.

The study describes for the first time the molecular mechanisms and the

identity of the protein, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),

which underlie the actions of antidepressants on new cell growth and

behavior.

" One in five Americans have depression, yet the neural mechanisms

underlying depression and the actions of antidepressants remain

unknown, " said Duman, senior author and professor of psychiatry

at Yale. " These findings provide important, fundamental, and new

information on the actions of these highly prescribed drugs. The data

also has implications for understanding many stress related disorders. "

Duman and Warner-Schmidt, a former graduate student at Yale now

at the Rockefeller Institute, found in a rodent study that VEGF levels

are increased by chronic administration of either of two major classes

of antidepressant medications. Conversely, blocking the effects of VEGF

prevents new cell birth in response to the medications.

Duman said recent studies demonstrated that stress decreases the

expression of VEGF in the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in

the control of emotion, mood, learning, and memory, and this could

contribute to the atrophy and loss of cells caused by stress and depression.

In prior groundbreaking research Duman found that antidepressants

increase the expression of growth factors in the hippocampus and other

regions of the brain. Duman also found that antidepressants increase the

birth of new neurons in the hippocampus.

According to Duman, future studies could look at VEGF and related

pathways for genetic mutations that might contribute to depression, or

make a person more susceptible to depression. VEGF signaling also could

provide targets for the development of novel, faster acting, and more

effective therapeutic agents.