Compared to the classical monoamine hypotheses focus on neuroplasticity is a major new
approach in studies of depression and antidepressants. Recent studies have demonstrated
that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is regulated by antidepressant treatment in
rodents. However, in depressive patients no significant changes were found in the serum
VEGF levels compared to control subjects. To our knowledge, brain and serum VEGF levels
have never been reported in parallel for any psychiatric disease model. That prompted us to�…

There is accumulating evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a
critical role in the pathophysiology of depression. Decreased serum levels have been
reported in major depression, and a correlation between BDNF reduction and the severity of
the disease was found. Moreover, in post-mortem hippocampal tissue, increased levels of
BDNF immunoreactivity have been reported in subjects treated with antidepressants
compared to untreated subjects. These findings indicate parallel changes in brain and�…