A new study from scientists at the Universite Laval in Canada looked at the brains of men and women with severe depression who passed away.
The differences were striking, and similar to sex differences the researchers previously found among mice.
In both sexes, there was a weakening of the blood-brain barrier caused by the loss of a protein (claudin-5**) in the brain.
However, in male mice, the loss of protein occurred in the nucleus accumbens, which is the part of the brain associated with the control of emotions and reward.
And that’s exactly where the researchers observed the difference in men.
Meanwhile, in female mice, it occurred in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with things like focus and planning.
Again, those findings were observed in women.
Interestingly, in chronically stressed male mice, the prefrontal cortex was unaltered, leading Dr. Caroline Menard to note, “These findings suggest that chronic stress alters the brain barrier differently according to gender.”
Now the other fascinating part — the study also identified an inflammatory molecule that was higher in both women and female mice with severe depression than men and male mice.
Both the theoretical and practical implications are profound.
Dr. Menard says, “Our group is the first to show the importance of neurovascular health in depression and to suggest soluble E-selectin as a depression biomarker. It could potentially be used to screen for and diagnose depression.
It could also be used to measure the efficacy of existing treatments or treatments in development.”
You can read the full study here.
**If you’re wondering what this protein, claudin-5, is, here’s a good academic read on it, and the key pull from the abstract: “claudin-5 is the most enriched tight junction protein and its dysfunction has been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis as well as psychiatric disorders including depression and schizophrenia. By regulating levels of claudin-5, it is possible to abrogate disease symptoms in many of these disorders.”
It’s a fascinating avenue of research, and yet again, such a clear repudiation of the idea that depression is any kind of spiritual defect or failing.
Here’s another study, highlighting how the loss of BBB (blood-brain barrier) integrity (which claudin-5 plays a role in) seems to be “a common pathological finding in many psychiatric disorders,” via the “infiltration of peripheral material, such as immune cells, culminating in neuroinflammation and oxidative stress.”
That’s not a spiritual process! Or to the extent it is, it’s just that sickness and disease entered humans at the fall, and psychiatric disorders are just another part of our bodies that now struggle, but will one day, be raised in glory.
No loss of BBB integrity in paradise.
So, as always, if you struggle with depression….
Find a psychiatrist here.
Find a therapist here.
