Reduced Marker of Vascularization in the Anterior Hippocampus in a Female Monkey Model of Depression

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Anisha Kalidindi, Emory University; Sean D. Kelly, Emory University; Kaela S. Singleton, Agnes Scott College; Dora Guzman, Emory University; Liana Merrill, Emory University; Stephanie L. Willard, Wake Forest School of Medicine; Carol A. Shively, Wake Forest School of Medicine; Gretchen Neigh, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-04-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.07.007
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Physiology and Behavior
• ISSN: 0031-9384
• Volume: 172
• Start Page: 12
• End Page: 15
• Grant/Funding Information: BP-ENDURE initiative R25GM097636 (to AK and KS).; This work was supported by R21MH086731 (to CAS) and institutional fund from Emory University Department of Physiology (to GNN).
• Keywords: Depression; MOOD DISORDERS; SEX-DIFFERENCES; SOCIAL STRESS; Unbiased stereology; Social Sciences; Macaca fascicularis; ANXIETY; CYNOMOLGUS MONKEYS; Vascular; Science & Technology; Psychology, Biological; BODY-MASS INDEX; BEHAVIOR; Female; Behavioral Sciences; UNITED-STATES; Psychology; ASSOCIATIONS; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Hippocampus; STRESS-RESPONSE; Cerebrovasculature
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Microbiology; Biology, Physiology

Abstract

Depression is a common and debilitating mood disorder that impacts women more often than men. The mechanisms that result in depressive behaviors are not fully understood; however, the hippocampus has been noted as a key structure in the pathophysiology of depression. In addition to neural implications of depression, the cardiovascular system is impacted. Although not as commonly considered, the cerebrovasculature is critical to brain function, impacted by environmental stimuli, and is capable of altering neural function and thereby behavior. In the current study, we assessed the relationship between depressive behavior and a marker of vascularization of the hippocampus in adult female cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Similar to previously noted impacts on neuropil and glia, the depressed phenotype predicts a reduction in a marker of vascular length in the anterior hippocampus. These data reinforce the growing recognition of the effects of depression on vasculature and support further consideration of vascular endpoints in studies aimed at the elucidation of the mechanisms underlying depression.