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CSF circulation regulates depression: do not disturb the flow!

Molecular Psychiatry volume 26, pages 7072–7073 (2021)Cite this article

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A recent study by Ji-Seon Seo and colleagues is shifting gears in depression research by showing that controlling the CSF flow might be a new way to go.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental illness estimated to affect around 300 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of disability with a profound impact on an individual’s health, social and economic condition. Amelioration of MDD symptoms is achieved with antidepressant drugs that interfere with neurotransmission in the brain in an attempt to restore dysfunctional neuronal networks. Nonetheless, the neuropathological basis of depression is still largely unknown, and about 65% of patients do not respond to current first-line therapies, making this field of research a top priority. A recent study from Ji-Seon Seo and colleagues [1] brings to light a new and unexpected player: the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. They demonstrate that ependymal cell-driven CSF flow is decreased in stress-induced depression and suggest that the reduced levels of p11 in ependymal cells are to blame.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/131278/2017 to Eduardo Loureiro-Campos; 2020.02855.CEECIND to Luísa Pinto; 2020.02753.CEECIND to Ana Mendanha Falcão), BIAL Foundation Grant (427/14 to Luísa Pinto), Nature Research Award for Driving Global Impact- 2019 Brain Sciences (to Luísa Pinto). Ana Mendanha Falcão was supported by a fellowship from “la Caixa” Foundation (ID100010434) with the fellowship code is LCF/BQ/PI19/11690005, and the Swedish Research Council (grant no. 2019-02030). This was also co-funded by the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), and by FEDER, through the Competitiveness Internationalization Operational Program (POCI), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) - project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Eduardo Loureiro-Campos, Luísa Pinto & Ana Mendanha Falcão

  2. ICVS/3B’s -PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Braga, Portugal

    Eduardo Loureiro-Campos, Luísa Pinto & Ana Mendanha Falcão

  3. Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ana Mendanha Falcão

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  1. Eduardo Loureiro-Campos
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  2. Luísa Pinto
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  3. Ana Mendanha Falcão
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EL-C, LP and AMF wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ana Mendanha Falcão.

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Loureiro-Campos, E., Pinto, L. & Mendanha Falcão, A. CSF circulation regulates depression: do not disturb the flow!. Mol Psychiatry 26, 7072–7073 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01323-7

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