Depression is a complex disorder with a profound effect on a patient’s life. Current medications used in the treatment of depression have faced a number of challenges, including unwanted side effects and a delay in achieving the desired effect. All previous antidepressant medications have targeted the same system (central monoamine neurotransmitter system) to treat symptoms.
Animal models (in this experiment, rodents) are an invaluable source of information regarding various diseases and disorders. Since depression is such a complex disorder and difficult to investigate, rodent subjects are used. However medical research must always strive to reduce the testing necessary on animals through refinement of existing methods. It has been shown that the central nervous system must undergo adaptations when antidepressants are administered. These adaptations are neccessary for the antidepressant to have the intended effects. Detecting certain chemical changes in the brain can be a useful tool in judging the adaptation that has occured. One chemical marker which has shown promise is Brain Derived Neurotrophic Growth Factor (BDNF).
This experiment would involve examining the brains of rodent subjects to study variations in hippocampal BDNF. Using a known antideressant, desipramine, to study the how it affects levels of BDNF in the hippocampus (an area in the brain affected in depression) may provide insight into how useful BDNF is as a marker for the action of antidepressants.
The project would ultimately hope to show that BDNF levels are an important marker in depression and that this could be a potential target for antidepressants.
