瘦素在抑郁症发病与治疗中的作用

Role of leptin in the development of depression and its therapy

抑郁症是一种以持久性心境低落、快感消失为主要特征的情感性精神障碍。其病因和病理生理学机制复杂,涉及一系列神经内分泌的改变。瘦素(leptin)是由脂肪组织分泌的蛋白类激素,主要通过作用于下丘脑发挥降低食欲,增加能量消耗的作用。近年来的研究表明抑郁症病人有不同程度瘦素水平改变。瘦素及其受体在中枢具有广泛的分布,并与海马、HPA轴、5-HT神经元的功能和神经营养作用密切相关,还发现瘦素具有抗抑郁活性,因而瘦素作为一种内分泌激素,可能在抑郁的情绪调节中发挥重要作用。该文就近年来瘦素和抑郁症的相关研究做一综述。

Depression is a serious mental disorder with characters of lasting anhedonia and anorexia. Moreover, there is a set of neuroendocrine alteration in it′s complicated pathophysiology. Leptin, a protein hormone secreted from adipose tissue, plays a pivotal role in regulating food intake and energy expenditure via its hypothalamic actions. Now evidence is accumulating that depressed patients show various alterations in leptin levels. Leptin and its receptors are distributed extensively in the CNS and interact with the function of hippocampus, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, serotonergic neurons and neurotrophic action. Therefore, as an endocrine hormone, leptin may be an important regulator in the pathophysiology of depression. Here, we review the evidence implicating a key role for leptin in depressive disorder.