Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue 22, Pages 9069-9074Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811949106
Keywords
cancer; depression; HPA; hippocampus
Categories
Funding
- American Cancer Society [PF-08-086-TBE]
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [AI-67406]
- Brain Research Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A strong and positive correlation exists between chronic disease and affective disorders, but the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship are not known. Here we show that rats with mammary cancer exhibit depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in the absence of overt sickness behaviors. The production of proinflammatory cytokines, known to induce depressive-like behaviors, was elevated in the periphery and in the hippocampus of rats with tumors compared with controls. In tumor-bearing rats, circulating corticosterone, which inhibits cytokine signaling, was suppressed following a stressor, and gene expression of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors was elevated. The results establish that tumors alone are sufficient to trigger changes in emotional behaviors. Dampened glucocorticoid responses to stressors may exacerbate the deleterious effects of tumor-induced cytokines on affective states.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available