Ceramide levels in blood plasma correlate with major depressive disorder severity and its neutralization abrogates depressive behavior in mice.

ABSTRACT: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe disease of unknown pathogenesis that will affect ∼10% of people during their lifetime. Therapy for MDD requires prolonged treatment and often fails, predicating a need for novel treatment strategies. Here, we report increased ceramide levels in the blood plasma of MDD patients and in murine stress-induced models of MDD. These blood plasma ceramide levels correlated with the severity of MDD in human patients and were independent of age, sex, or body mass index. In addition, intravenous injection of anti-ceramide antibodies or neutral ceramidase rapidly abrogated stress-induced MDD, and intravenous injection of blood plasma from mice with MDD induced depression-like behavior in untreated mice, which was abrogated by ex vivo preincubation of the pla

SUBMITTER: Schumacher F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9304786 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature