Brief Communication abstract


Nature Neuroscience 11, 752 - 753 (2008)
Published online: 15 June 2008 | doi:10.1038/nn.2139

The orexigenic hormone ghrelin defends against depressive symptoms of chronic stress

Michael Lutter1, Ichiro Sakata2, Sherri Osborne-Lawrence2, Sherry A Rovinsky2, Jason G Anderson2, Saendy Jung1, Shari Birnbaum1, Masashi Yanagisawa3, Joel K Elmquist1,2,4, Eric J Nestler1 & Jeffrey M Zigman2

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We found that increasing ghrelin levels, through subcutaneous injections or calorie restriction, produced anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like responses in the elevated plus maze and forced swim test. Moreover, chronic social defeat stress, a rodent model of depression, persistently increased ghrelin levels, whereas growth hormone secretagogue receptor (Ghsr) null mice showed increased deleterious effects of chronic defeat. Together, these findings demonstrate a previously unknown function for ghrelin in defending against depressive-like symptoms of chronic stress.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390-9077, USA.
  2. Department of Internal Medicine (Divisions of Hypothalamic Research and Endocrinology and Metabolism), The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390-9077, USA.
  3. Department of Molecular Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390-9077, USA.
  4. Department of Pharmacology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas 75390-9077, USA.

Correspondence to: Jeffrey M Zigman2 e-mail: jeffrey.zigman@utsouthwestern.edu




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