Altered Expression of Glial and Synaptic Markers in the Anterior Hippocampus of Behaviorally Depressed Female Monkeys.

The anterior hippocampus is associated with emotional functioning and hippocampal volume is reduced in depression. We reported reduced neuropil volume and number of glia in the dentate gyrus (DG) and cornu ammonis (CA)1 of the anterior hippocampus in behaviorally depressed adult female cynomolgus macaques. To determine the biochemical correlates of morphometric and behavioral differences between behaviorally depressed and nondepressed adult female monkeys, glial and synaptic transcripts and protein levels were assessed in the DG, CA3 and CA1 of the anterior hippocampus. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) was increased whereas spinophilin and postsynaptic density (PSD)-95 protein were decreased in the CA1 of depressed monkeys. GFAP was reciprocally related to spinophilin and PSD-95 protein in the CA1. Gene expression of GFAP paralleled the protein changes observed in the CA1 and was inversely related to serum estradiol levels in depressed monkeys. These results suggest that behavioral depression in female primates is accompanied by astrocytic and synaptic protein alterations in the CA1. Moreover, these findings indicate a potential role for estrogen in modulating astrocyte-mediated impairments in synaptic plasticity.