V. Klimek et al., REDUCED LEVELS OF NOREPINEPHRINE TRANSPORTERS IN THE LOCUS-COERULEUS IN MAJOR DEPRESSION, The Journal of neuroscience, 17(21), 1997, pp. 8451-8458
The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is a membrane protein responsible
for termination of the action of synaptic norepinephrine and is a sit
e of action of many drugs used to treat major depression. The present
study determined whether the binding of [H-3]nisoxetine to the NET is
altered in the locus coeruleus (LC) in major depression, using brain t
issue collected postmortem from subjects diagnosed with major depressi
on and from age-matched normal control subjects. Thirteen of the 15 ma
jor depressive subjects studied died by suicide. The distribution of [
H-3]nisoxetine binding along the rostro-caudal axis of the nucleus was
uneven and was paralleled by a similar uneven distribution of neurome
lanin-containing cells in both major depressives and psychiatrically n
ormal control subjects. The binding of [H-3]nisoxetine to NETs in the
midcaudal portion of the LC from major depressive subjects was signifi
cantly lower than that from age-matched, normal control subjects. The
binding of [H-3]nisoxetine to NETs in other regions of the LC was simi
lar in major depressives and control subjects. In contrast to reductio
ns in binding to NETs, there were no significant differences in the nu
mber of noradrenergic cells at any particular level of the LC between
major depressives and normal control subjects. The decreased binding o
f [H-3]nisoxetine to NETs in the LC in major depression may reflect a
compensatory downregulation of this transporter protein in response to
an insufficient availability of its substrate (norepinephrine) at the
synapse.