Abstract

Objective

The suggested link between major depression disorder (MDD) and blood–brain barrier (BBB) alterations supports an impact on the neurovascular unit in this disease condition. Here we investigate how pericytes, a major component in the neurovascular unit, respond to stress, stress hormones, proinflammatory cytokine and depression.

Method

Hippocampal sections of chronic unpredictable stressed (CMS) rats, MDD patients and respective controls were immuno-stained against NG2, where the number of NG2+ pericytes in the molecular layer was counted. Proliferation of cultured pericytes after treatment with cortisol and IL-1β was analyzed using radioactive-labeled thymidine.

Findings

The number of NG2+ pericytes was significantly higher in CMS animals than controls. Higher number of NG2+ pericytes was also detected in MDD patients, but the increase did not reach significance. IL-1β, but not cortisol, induced a significant increase in proliferation of cultured pericytes.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that exposure to stressful conditions affects the hippocampal pericyte population. These findings add to our knowledge about the impact of stress on the neurovascular unit, which might be relevant for understanding the alterations in BBB found in MDD patients.

中文翻译：

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慢性应激大鼠和抑郁症患者的海马NG2 +周细胞：定量研究

摘要

客观的

重度抑郁症（MDD）与血脑屏障（BBB）改变之间的联系暗示了这种疾病对神经血管单位的影响。在这里，我们研究了神经血管单元中的主要成分周细胞如何应对压力，压力激素，促炎性细胞因子和抑郁症。

方法

将慢性不可预测压力（CMS）大鼠，MDD患者和相应对照的海马切片针对NG2进行免疫染色，在其中对分子层中NG2 +周细胞的数量进行计数。使用放射性标记的胸苷对皮质醇和IL-1β处理后培养的周细胞的增殖进行了分析。

发现

CMS动物中NG2 +周细胞的数量显着高于对照组。在MDD患者中也检测到更高数量的NG2 +周细胞，但这种增加并未达到显着水平。IL-1β（而非皮质醇）诱导培养的周细胞增殖显着增加。

结论

我们的结果表明，暴露于压力条件会影响海马周细胞种群。这些发现增加了我们对压力对神经血管单位影响的认识，这可能与理解MDD患者的BBB改变有关。