Determination of stress sensitivity molecules that exacerbate depression after head injury

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24592133
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cerebral neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: HIGASHI Youichirou 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系, 助教 (80380062)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAWATA Toshio 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系, 助教 (40380323) ; UEBA Tetsuya 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系, 教授 (00314203) ; FUJIMOTO Yasunori 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系, 講師 (80589789) ; SHIMIZU Keiji 高知大学, 教育研究部医療学系, 教授 (70116044)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 頭部外傷 / うつ病 / 脳内亜鉛 / グリア細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined whether complex polysaccharide and lipopolysaccharide effect on concussion-induced depressive-like behavior in mice, but they had no effect on depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test.
Furthermore, we investigated the effect of a membrane-permeable zinc chelater (ZC) or a free radical scavenger edaravone (Ed) on concussion-induced depressive-like behavior. Mice were intravenously administered ZC and Ed before and immediately after impact, respectively. We found that ZC suppressed depressive-like behavior and microglial activation in the hippocampus 1 day after concussion. Ed also attenuated concussion-induced depressive-like behavior, which was accompanied by inhibition of increased hippocampal oxidative stress and suppression of 5-lipoxygenase activation in hippocampal astrocytes. These results suggest that ZC and Ed protect against concussion-induced depression, and these protections are mediated by suppression of glial cell-associated brain inflammation.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学