Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has a prevalence of 5% in adolescents. Several studies have described the association between the inflammatory response and MDD, but little is known about the relationship between MDD and growth factors, such as IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, VEGF, basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF. It must be appointed that there are scarce reports on growth factors in adolescents with MDD and even fewer with a clinical follow-up. In this work, we evaluated the levels of growth factors (IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, VEGF, basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF) in MDD adolescents and the clinical follow-up during eight weeks of treatment with fluoxetine. Methods. All patients were diagnosed according to the DSM-IV-TR, and the severity of the symptoms was evaluated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Growth factors IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, VEGF, basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF were quantified by cytometric bead array using serum samples from 22 adolescents with MDD and 18 healthy volunteers. Results. All patients showed clinical improvement since the fourth week of pharmacological treatment according to the HDRS. Considerably higher levels of IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, VEGF, basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF were detected in MDD adolescents as compared to healthy volunteers. A significant but temporal decrease was detected in basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF at week four of fluoxetine administration. Conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to show alterations in the levels of growth factors, such as IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, VEGF, basic FGF, G-CSF, and GM-CSF in MDD adolescents during eight weeks of clinical follow-up. These disturbances might be involved in the physiopathology of MDD since such growth factors have been proven to participate in the neural development and correct functioning of the CNS; therefore, subtle alterations in it may contribute to MDD.
Highlights
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the mood alterations with the highest occurrence in adolescence [1]
Serum levels of IL-7, IL-9, IL-17A, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were significantly higher in adolescents with MDD at W0 compared with those in healthy volunteers (HVs) (IL-7: F = 23:97; IL-9: F = 8:44; IL-17A: F = 13:10; and VEGF: F = 21:79; in all cases df = 80:3 and P < 0:0001)
We observed a significant increase in serum levels of basic Fibroblast growth factor (FGF), G-CSF, and GM-CSF in adolescents with MDD
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the mood alterations with the highest occurrence in adolescence [1]. The pharmacological treatment with monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic agents, and serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) restores the levels of BDNF, NGF, FGF, TGF-β, VEGF, and IGF-1, as well as the expression of EGF [11,12,13,14,15,16]. Together, these findings have led to the consideration of growth factors as possible biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of MDD [6]. We show significant alterations in the serum levels of seven growth factors in adolescent MDD patients during 8 weeks of pharmacological treatment with an SSRI (fluoxetine)
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