Agmatinase and human cationic amino acid transporter 1 in mood disorder: what´s under the microscope?

Agmatine modulates spontaneous activity in neurons of the rat medial habenular complex—a relevant mechanism in the pathophysiology and treatment of depression?

“…The main goal of the present study was to obtain an electrophysiological evidence for a potential mechanism explaining the involvement of the agmatinergic system with psychiatric disorders, notably major depression. In order to extend our previous evidence for a dysregulation of the agmatinergic system in the MHb of depressed individuals 26 , we herein compared the distribution pattern for agmatinase within the rat and human MHb.…”

“… 24 ), is prominently expressed in the MHb and the triangular septum 25 . Additionally, the expression of agmatinase is significantly upregulated in the MHb of depressed patients 26 (→link to article). These observations led us to hypothesize, that the agmatinergic system may be a part of the information processing in the septal–habenular–interpeduncular axis.…”

SLC Solute Carrier Transporters and Neurodegenerative Disorders: Drawing Attention to Cationic Amino Acid Transporters 1 and 2

“…A few years ago some of us could show that in postmortem brains of individuals with mood disorder (major depression and bipolar disorder) there is a significant decrease in the numerical density of human CAT1 expressing neurons in the CA2 region of the hippocampus. The functional importance of this finding is yet not fully clear, but has possibly to do with the downregulation of the endogenous antidepressant agmatine in depression [10,11]. Concerning CAT2 (which appears in two isoforms, CAT2a and CAT2b) it can be stated that the transporter may play a role in the pathophysiology of a "classical" neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's disease (AD).…”