Suicide: Neurochemical Approaches

• Main Authors: Ritabrata Banerjee, Anup K. Ghosh, Balaram Ghosh, Somnath Bhattacharya, Amal C. Mondal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EduSoft publishing 2013-10-01
• Series: Brain: Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience
• Subjects: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Nerve growth factor (NGF), Suicide, Postmortem brain, Hippocampus, TrkB, TrkA, RT PCR. ELISA
• Online Access: http://brain.edusoft.ro/index.php/brain/article/view/425

<p>Despite the devastating effect of suicide on numerous lives, there is still a dearth<br />of knowledge concerning its neurochemical aspects. There is increasing evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and Nerve growth factor (NGF) are involved in the pathophysiology and treatment of depression through binding and activating their cognate receptors trk B and trk A respectively. The present study was performed to examine whether the expression profiles of BDNF and/or trk B as well as NGF and/or trk A were altered in postmortem brain in subjects who commit<br />suicide and whether these alterations were associated with specific psychopathologic conditions. These studies were performed in hippocampus obtained 21 suicide subjects and 19 non-psychiatric control subjects. The protein and mRNA levels of BDNF, trk B and NGF, trk A were determined with Sandwich ELISA, Western Blot and RT PCR respectively. Given the importance of BDNF<br />and NGF along with their cognate receptors in mediating physiological functions, including cell survival and synaptic plasticity, our findings of reduced expression of BDNF, Trk B and NGF, Trk A in both protein and mRNA levels of postmortem brain in suicide subjects suggest that these molecules may play an important role in the pathophysiological aspects of suicidal behavior.</p>