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The Effect of Citalopram on Gene Expression Profile of Alzheimer Lymphocytes

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Abstract

Antidepressants are widely used in the treatment of mood disorders associated with dementia, however little information is available on their effect at the molecular level. In certain neurodegenerative disorders, such as in Alzheimer's disease, lymphocytes have been used to assess mirror changes that thought to occur in the brain. Gene expression profiles of lymphocytes from Alzheimer patients have been shown to differ from that seen with controls. To address this issue in light of antidepressant treatment, we used lymphocytes derived from Alzheimer's disease patients and control individuals to assess the impact of the selective serotonine reuptake inhibitor citalopram on gene expression using a cDNA microarray representing 3200 distinct human genes. Sequences that are differentially regulated after treatment with citalopram were identified and categorized based on similarities in biological functions. This analysis revealed that the overexpression of genes in control and Alzheimer white blood cells by citalopram are implicated in cell survival. Apart from this, citalopram did not markedly alter genes involved in other molecular functions in control cells. In contrast, alteration of genes implicated in ionic currents, cell-adhesion, immune mechanism, and adrenergic functions, were also observed in Alzheimer lymphocytes. The expression of genes of Alzheimer lymphocytes by citalopram is modulated differently which may correlate with the pathology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, H-6721, Szeged, Hungary

    András Palotás, Miklós Palotás, Zoltán Janka & János Kálmán

  2. Department of Medical Chemistry, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, H-6721, Szeged, Hungary

    András Palotás & Botond Penke

  3. Laboratory of Functional Genomics, Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-6701, Szeged, Hungary

    László G. Puskás

  4. Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-6701, Szeged, Hungary

    Klára Kitajka

  5. Department of Microbiology, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, H-6721, Szeged, Hungary

    József Molnár

  6. Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary

    Magdolna Pákáski

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  1. András Palotás
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  2. László G. Puskás
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Correspondence to András Palotás.

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Palotás, A., Puskás, L.G., Kitajka, K. et al. The Effect of Citalopram on Gene Expression Profile of Alzheimer Lymphocytes. Neurochem Res 29, 1563–1570 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:NERE.0000029570.57903.74

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