Title: Fibroblast Growth Factor-2: An Endogenous Antidepressant and Anxiolytic Molecule?
Abstract: Anxiety disorders and clinical depression are the two most common psychiatric disorders. The lifetime risk for a major depressive episode is 17.1%, and the lifetime risk for any anxiety disorder is 24.9% ( 1 Kessler R.C. McGonagle K.A. Zhao S. Nelson C.B. Hughes M. Eshleman S. et al. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994; 51: 8-19 Scopus (0) Google Scholar ). Moreover, these two disorders are comorbid at a much greater rate than expected by chance. Patients with both major depressive disorder (MDD) and any anxiety disorder have more severe depressive symptoms than those with pure depression. They also follow a more protracted course and are less responsive to treatment. This comorbidity suggests that a common biologic substrate mediates these two classes of stress-related disorders. In this commentary, we summarize the previous as well as the most recent evidence ( 2 Elsayed M. Banasr M. Duric V. Fournier N.M. Licznerski P. Duman R.S. Antidepressant effects of fibroblast growth factor-2 in behavioral and cellular models of depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2012; 72: 258-265 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (126) Google Scholar ) for the hypothesis that fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) is a key molecular regulator of anxiety and depression and that it may be critical in understanding their comorbidity and addressing the associated treatment resistance. Antidepressant Effects of Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 in Behavioral and Cellular Models of DepressionBiological PsychiatryVol. 72Issue 4PreviewBasic and clinical studies report that the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) is decreased in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of depressed subjects or rodents exposed to stress and increased following antidepressant treatment. Here, we aim to determine if 1) FGF-2/fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) signaling is sufficient and required for mediating an antidepressant response behaviorally and cellularly; and 2) if the antidepressant actions of FGF-2 are mediated specifically by the PFC. Full-Text PDF