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Key To New Treatment Of Depression: Ever-happy Mice May Hold Key

Main Category: Depression News

Article 24 Aug 2006 - 22:00pm (PDT)

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A new breed of permanently 'cheerful' mouse is providing hope of a

new treatment for clinical depression. TREK-1 is a gene that can

affect transmission of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is known to

play an important role in mood, sleep and sexuality. By breeding mice

with an absence of TREK-1, researchers were able create a depression-

resistant strain. The details of this research, which involved an

international collaboration with scientists from the University of

Nice, France, are published in Nature Neuroscience this week.

 

" Depression is a devastating illness, which affects around 10% of

people at some point in their life, " says Dr. Guy Debonnel an MUHC

psychiatrist, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill

University, and principal author of the new research. " Current

medications for clinical depression are ineffective for a third of

patients, which is why the development of alternate treatments is so

important. "

 

Mice without the TREK-1 gene ('knock-out' mice) were created and bred

in collaboration with Dr. Michel Lazdunski, co-author of the

research, in his laboratory at the University of Nice,

France. " These 'knock-out' mice were then tested using separate

behavioral, electrophysiological and biochemical measures known to

gauge 'depression' in animals, " says Dr. Debonnel. " The results

really surprised us; our 'knock-out' mice acted as if they had been

treated with antidepressants for at least three weeks. "

 

This research represents the first time depression has been

eliminated through genetic alteration of an organism. " The discovery

of a link between TREK-1 and depression could ultimately lead to the

development of a new generation of antidepressant drugs, " noted Dr.

Debonnel.

 

According to Health Canada and Statistics Canada, approximately 8% of

Canadians will suffer from depression at some point in their

lifetime. Around 5% of Canadians seek medical advice for depression

each year; a figure that has almost doubled in the past decade.

Figures in the U.S. are comparable, with approximately 18.8 million

American adults (about 9.5% of the population) suffering depression

during their life.

 

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Funding for this research was provided by the CNRS (Centre National

de la Recherche Scientifique) and the Canadian Institutes for Health

Research (CIHR).

 

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI

MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and health-care hospital

research centre. Located in Montreal, Quebec, the institute is the

research arm of the MUHC, a university health center affiliated with

the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. The institute supports

over 500 researchers, nearly 1000 graduate and post-doctoral students

and operates more than 300 laboratories devoted to a broad spectrum

of fundamental and clinical research. The Research Institute operates

at the forefront of knowledge, innovation and technology and is

inextricably linked to the clinical programs of the MUHC, ensuring

that patients benefit directly from the latest research-based

knowledge. For further details visit: http://www.muhc.ca/research.

 

About the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)

The MUHC is a comprehensive academic health institution with an

international reputation for excellence in clinical programs,

research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching

hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill

University - the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal

Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Hospitals, as well as the

Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical

leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to

provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the

health care field, and to contribute to the development of new

knowledge. http://www.muhc.ca/

 

Contact: Ian Popple

McGill University