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. 2021 Sep 30:315:111327.
doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111327. Epub 2021 Jul 1.

Inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitter systems in depressed and healthy: A positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Jonas Persson  1 , Anders Wall  2 , Jan Weis  3 , Malin Gingnell  4 , Gunnar Antoni  5 , Mark Lubberink  3 , Robert Bodén  6
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Free article

Inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitter systems in depressed and healthy: A positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Jonas Persson et al. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. .
Free article

Abstract

The Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate (Glu) neurotransmitter systems are implicated in depression. While previous studies found reduced GABA levels, and a tendency towards reduced Glu, using proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), little is known about GABAA receptor availability in depression. Here, the aim was to characterize GABA and Glu-levels in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), whole-brain GABAA availability, and their relationship in patients with depression compared to healthy controls. Forty-two patients and 45 controls underwent 1H-MRS using a MEGA-PRESS sequence to quantify dACC GABA+ and Glu (contrasted against creatine [Cr]). Immediately preceding the 1H-MRS, a subsample of 28 patients and 15 controls underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with [11C]Flumazenil to assess whole-brain GABAA receptor availability. There were no differences in dACC GABA+/Cr or Glu/Cr ratios between patients and controls. The same was true for whole-brain GABAA receptor availability. However, there was a significant negative relationship between GABA+/Cr ratio and receptor availability in ACC, in a whole-brain voxel-wise analysis across patients and controls, controlling for group or depressive symptoms. This relatively large study did not support the GABA-deficit hypothesis in depression, but shed light on GABA-system functioning, suggesting a balance between neurotransmitter concentration and receptor availability in dACC.

Keywords: Depression; GABA; Glutamate; Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; PET.

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