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High activity of acid sphingomyelinase in major depression

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Summary.

Acid sphingomyelinase (A-SMase) and its reaction product ceramide may play a role in the pathophysiology of depressive disorders and in the therapeutic action of antidepressive drugs. In a prospective case-control study, A-SMase activity was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 17 patients with a major depressive episode who were free of antidepressant drug therapy for at least 10 days and 8 healthy volunteers. In the patient group, A-SMase activity was correlated to the score (n = 17, r = 0.64, P = 0.005). The patient group exhibited higher A-SMase activity compared to healthy volunteers (T = 2.09, df = 21.33, P<0.05). In addition, we demonstrate that the antidepressants imipramine and amitriptyline induce a long-term reduction of the activity of A-SMase in cultured cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Erlangen, Germany

    J. Kornhuber, S. Bleich, A. W. Henkel & J. Wiltfang

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Göttingen, Germany

    A. Medlin

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Tübingen, Germany

    V. Jendrossek

  4. Department of Molecular Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

    E. Gulbins

Authors
  1. J. Kornhuber
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  2. A. Medlin
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  3. S. Bleich
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  4. V. Jendrossek
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  5. A. W. Henkel
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  6. J. Wiltfang
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  7. E. Gulbins
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Kornhuber, J., Medlin, A., Bleich, S. et al. High activity of acid sphingomyelinase in major depression. J Neural Transm 112, 1583–1590 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-005-0374-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-005-0374-5

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