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  • Title: Depression in Parkinson's disease is not accompanied by more corticotropin-releasing hormone expressing neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus.
    Author: Hoogendijk WJ, Purba JS, Hofman MA, de Vos RA, Jansen EN, Swaab DF.
    Journal: Biol Psychiatry; 1998 Jun 15; 43(12):913-7. PubMed ID: 9627747.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Depression is frequently encountered in Parkinson's disease (PD). In addition, more than half of the PD patients have a disturbed dexamethasone suppression test, which is associated with increased activity of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons. We recently found an increase in CRH neuron number, CRH-messenger RNA, and vasopressin colocalization in CRH neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of depressed patients, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of depression. METHODS: The number of neurons expressing CRH was determined in the PVN of 6 depressed PD patients with a high score (> or = 13) on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, 6 nondepressed PD patients, and 6 controls. RESULTS: The three groups did not differ in the number of neurons expressing CRH. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesize that activation of CRH neurons in the PVN, as we recently observed in idiopathic depression, does not play an essential role in depression in PD.
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