Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Godfrey, Kate E.M.
• Gardner, Abby C.
• Kwon, Sarah
• Chea, William
• Muthukumaraswamy, Suresh D.

Titel

Differences in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter levels between depressed patients and healthy controls: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ist Teil von

• Journal of psychiatric research, 2018-10, Vol.105, p.33-44

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Dysfunction of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and/or glutamate neurotransmitter systems have increasingly been implicated in the aetiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). It has been proposed that alterations in GABA and/or glutamate result in an imbalance of inhibition and excitation. In a review of the current literature, we identified studies using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to examine the neurotransmitters GABA, glutamate, and the composite glutamate/glutamine measure Glx in patients diagnosed with MDD and healthy controls. Results showed patients with MDD had significantly lower GABA levels compared to controls (−0.35 [-0.61,-0.10], p = 0.007). No significant difference was found between levels of glutamate. Sub-analyses were performed, including only studies where the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) was the region of interest. GABA and Glx levels were lower in the ACC of MDD patients (−0.56 [-0.93,-0.18] p = 0.004, and 0.40 [-0.81,0.01] p = 0.05). This review indicates widespread cortical reduction of GABA in MDD, with a trend towards a localised reduction of Glx in the ACC. However, given both GABA and glutamate appear decreased a simple interpretation in terms of an imbalance of overall excitation-inhibition is not feasible. •Found lower levels of GABA in depressed patients compared to healthy controls.•This difference is not seen between remitted patients and controls.•When limited to a prefrontal region Glx showed a trend towards a local reduction.•Suggests deficits in GABA may be involved in the pathophysiology of depression.