Abstract
Background: Recent postmortem studies in major depressive disorder (MDD) provide evidence
for a reduction in the packing density and number of glial cells in different regions
of the prefrontal cortex; however, the specific types of glia involved in those morphologic
changes are unknown.
Methods: The territory occupied by the astroglial marker glial fibrillary acidic protein
(GFAP) was measured as an areal fraction in cortical layers III, IV, and V in sections
from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) of MDD and control subjects. In addition,
the packing density of GFAP-immunoreactive somata was measured by a direct three-dimensional
cell counting method.
Results: The mean areal fraction and packing density of GFAP-immunoreactive astrocytes
in the dlPFC of MDD subjects were not significantly different from those in control
subjects; however, in MDD there was a significant strong positive correlation between
age and GFAP immunoreactivity. When the MDD group was divided into younger (30–45
years old) and older (46–86) adults, in the five younger MDD adults, areal fraction
and packing density were smaller than the smallest values of the control subjects.
In contrast, among older MDD subjects these parameters tended to be greater than in
the older control subjects.
Conclusions: The present results suggest that the GFAP-immunoreactive astroglia is
differentially involved in the pathology of MDD in younger compared with older adults.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 25,
2000
Received in revised form:
July 7,
2000
Received:
April 13,
2000
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
