一種永遠(yuǎn)處于“Happy”狀態(tài)的小鼠，為抑郁癥的臨床治療提供了新的思路,。已知血清素（serotonin ）在控制情緒,、睡眠和性欲過(guò)程中發(fā)揮重要作用，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)血清素在大腦中的傳播與TREK-1基因有關(guān),。通過(guò)培育TREK-1基因缺陷小鼠,，由法國(guó)Nice大學(xué)研究人員研制出一種抑郁抗性品系（depression-resistant strain）小鼠。研究細(xì)節(jié)刊登于本周Nature Neuroscience,。
論文作者,、MUHC 精神病專(zhuān)家Guy Debonnel博士說(shuō)：“抑郁癥是一種常見(jiàn)疾病，據(jù)調(diào)查顯示美國(guó)大約有9.5％的成年人會(huì)在他們生命的某個(gè)階段遭受抑郁癥的侵襲,。目前臨床使用的治療藥物對(duì)其中1/3的病例都是無(wú)效的,，因此尋找新的治療途徑勢(shì)在必行。”
在Debonnel實(shí)驗(yàn)室,，Debonnel和Michel Lazdunski共同培養(yǎng)得到TREK-1基因缺陷小鼠,，隨后分別用衡量動(dòng)物“抑郁”的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)行為學(xué)、電生理學(xué)和生物化學(xué)指標(biāo)對(duì)這些基因缺陷小鼠進(jìn)行測(cè)量,。結(jié)果令研究人員大為驚喜：至少三周內(nèi),，這些基因缺陷小鼠的行為如同被接受過(guò)“抗抑郁”藥物治療,。
這項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果首次證明抑郁癥可以通過(guò)遺傳學(xué)手段消除。“抑郁癥與TREK-1基因的關(guān)系的闡明有助于研發(fā)新一代抗抑郁藥品,。”
英文原文：
Happy mice used in depression study
By breeding mice with an absence of TREK-1 -- a gene that can affect serotonin transmission in the brain -- researchers were able create a depression-resistant strain.
"Depression is a devastating illness, which affects around 10 percent of people at some point in their life," said Dr. Guy Debonnel, a psychiatrist and professor at McGill University in Montreal.
Debonnel, principal author of the new research, notes current medications for clinical depression are ineffective for a third of patients, which is why the development of alternate treatments is so important.
The so-called knock-out mice were created in collaboration with Michel Lazdunski, co-author of the research, in his laboratory at the University of Nice, France.
"These 'knock-out' mice were then tested using separate behavioral, electrophysiological and biochemical measures known to gauge 'depression' in animals," said Debonnel. "The results really surprised us; our 'knock-out' mice acted as if they had been treated with antidepressants for at least three weeks."
