Recent findings document numerous interactions between neuronal and glial systems that likely play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. These findings suggest that glia-derived neurotrophic protein S100B may play a significant role in developing depression.
To test the relationship between S100B and depressive symptoms we designed cross-sectional clinical study including S100B serum and CSF levels in neurological patients with non-inflammatory disorders (NIND), who undergone cerebrospinal fluid assessment for diagnostic purposes. The present study was focused on psychometric testing of depression (BDI-II). anxiety (SAS) and alexithymia (TAS-20), and neurochemical measure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels of S100B in 40 NIND inpatients [mean age 41.67].
The main result shows that S100B in CSF is significantly negatively correlated with BDI-II (Spearman R=-0.51, p < 0.0009) but not with SAS and TAS-20. The finding indicates that decreased level of Si COB in CSF is related to increased symptoms of depression in the NIND patients.