Project Summary

Thaddeus W.W. Pace, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Emory University School of Medicine, aims to study the relationship between inflammation and glucocorticoid receptor function in major depression. Research suggests altered glucocorticoid receptor function may contribute to major depression by disrupting the ability of body hormones to respond to stress. But how glucocorticoid receptor function is altered in major depression is unknown. One possibility is excessive inflammation. Patients with major depression exhibit evidence of increased inflammation, and proteins released during inflammation called proinflammatory cytokines can inhibit glucocorticoid receptor function. Also, proinflammatory cytokines can activate other molecules, including nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), which can bind the glucocorticoid receptor within the cell and disrupt its ability to act. Whether glucocorticoid receptor function is altered by inflammation in depressed patients is unknown. Dr. Pace’s project will evaluate the relationship between inflammation and glucocorticoid receptor function in 30 patients with major depression compared to 30 normal controls by looking in the blood at levels of proinflammatory cytokines, concentrations of NF-kB, and glucocorticoid receptor function.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

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