Depression in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Common Mechanisms and Current Treatment Options

Publication date: Available online 15 April 2019Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Ciaran P.C. Galts, Luis E.B. Bettio, David C. Jewett, Charles C. Yang, Patricia S. Brocardo, Ana Lucia S. Rodrigues, Jonathan S. Thacker, Joana Gil-MohapelAbstractMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder and a major cause of disability worldwide. This neurological condition is commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Huntington's Disease (HD), and has a significant impact on the increasing burden of these neuropathologies. Over the past decades, some of the pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms that contribute to these diseases have been elucidated and these findings indicate that, despite presenting distinct features, there are several similarities between the neurobiological alterations that lead to MDD and neurodegeneration in AD, PD and HD. For instance, disturbances in monoaminergic transmission and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increased oxidative and neuroinflammatory events, and impaired trophic support are thought to contribute to neuronal atrophy and death in all these diseases. In addition, neuroimaging findings have helped elucidate the structural and functional changes implicated in the relationship between depression and neurodegeneration, thus establishing a neuroanatomical signature to explain, at least in part, the comorbidity be...
Source: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research