The mRNA expression levels of GABA_A receptor α1 and α2 subunits in patients with major depressive disorder during onset and remission

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to investigate the expression levels of GABA and GABA_A receptor α1 and α2 subunits in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) during onset and remission.

Materials and Methods

48 patients with MDD during onset and 45 patients with MDD during remission who were treated in our university were selected. Moreover, the control group included 46 healthy volunteers recruited in the community. The depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed by Hamilton Depression (HAMD) Scale and Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA) Scale. ELISA was used to determine the serum GABA levels. The mRNA expression of GABA_A receptor α1 and α2 subunits in peripheral blood were detected by RT-PCR.

Results

The expression levels of serum GABA and of GABA_A receptor α1 and α2 subunits in MDD depression attack group were notably decreased in comparison with those in MDD remission group and control group ((4.10 ± 0.73) v.s. (5.91 ± 1.25) and (5.83 ± 1.17) umol/L, F = 5.61, p < 0.001; (0.53 ± 0.32) v.s. (0.91 ± 0.18) and (0.93 ± 0.21), F = 8.37, p < 0.001; (1.45 ± 0.86) v.s. (2.33 ± 1.49) and (2.28 ± 1.50), F = 8.23, p < 0.001). However, there were no marked difference in the levels of these three indices between the MDD remission group and the control group (p > 0.05). Serum GABA levels were negatively correlated with HAMA total score (r = −0.34, p = 0.02), HAMD total score (r = −0.46, p = 0.01) and depression core symptom score (r = −0.32, p = 0.03).

Conclusions

During the onset of MDD, there may be GABA neuronal dysfunction and abnormal expression of GABA_A receptor subunits, and those changes showed a state change, which gradually returned to normal during remission.

Keywords:

• Gamma-aminobutyric acid
• gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor
• major depressive disorder
• Hamilton anxiety
• Hamilton depression

Author contributions

Jiwu Liao is resposible for the study concepts & design, literature research, manuscript preparation; Sisi Wang is resposible for the definition of intellectual content, literature research, clinical studies, statistical analysis, manuscript editing; Haihua Yang is resposible for the experimental studies; Ping Ma is resposible for the clinical studies; Congrui Li is resposible for the data acquisition; Qiaoting Huang is resposible for the data analysis; Jiyang Pan is resposible for the guarantor of integrity of the entire study, manuscript review. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University. Informed consent was obtained.