Evidence map›Paper›PMID 14960621›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2004

Dysregulation in the suicide brain: mRNA expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone receptors and GABA(A) receptor subunits in frontal cortical brain region.

Zul Merali, Lisheng Du, Pavel Hrdina, Miklos Palkovits, Gabor Faludi, Michael O Poulter, Hymie Anisman

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 152 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
152citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

152 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 394 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  15. MNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  16. Transcription of GABATranslational psychiatry · 2025
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
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92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Zul MeraliUniversity of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada.
Lisheng Du
Pavel Hrdina
Miklos Palkovits
Gabor Faludi
Michael O Poulter
Hymie Anisman
University of Ottawa · CACarleton University · CASemmelweis University · HU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and GABA have been implicated in depression, and there is reason to believe that GABA may influence CRH functioning. The levels of CRH, and mRNA for CRH-binding protein, CRH1, and CRH2 receptors, as well as various GABA(A) receptor subunits (alpha1, alpha2, alpha3, alpha4, alpha5, delta, and gamma2), were determined in several frontal cortical brain regions of depressed suicide victims and nondepressed individuals who had not died by suicide. Relative to the comparison group, CRH levels were elevated in frontopolar and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, but not in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex of suicide victims. Conversely, using quantitative PCR analyses, it was observed that, in frontopolar cortex, mRNA for CRH1, but not CRH2, receptors were reduced in suicide brains, possibly secondary to the high levels of CRH activity. In addition, mRNA of the alpha1, alpha3, alpha4, and delta receptor subunits was reduced in the frontopolar region of suicide victims. Interestingly, a partial analysis of the GABA(A) receptor functional genome revealed high cross-correlations between subunit expression in cortical regions of nondepressed individuals, suggesting a high degree of coordinated gene regulation. However, in suicide brains, this regulation was perturbed, independent of overall subunit abundance. These findings raise the possibility that the CRH and GABA(A) receptor subunit changes, or the disturbed coordination between these GABA(A) receptor subunits, contribute to depression and/or suicidality or are secondary to the illness/distress associated with it.

Indexed as

SuicideBrainCarrier ProteinsCorticotropin-Releasing HormoneCRF Receptor, Type 1FemaleFrontal LobeHumansMaleMiddle AgedProtein SubunitsReceptors, Corticotropin-Releasing HormoneReceptors, GABA-ARNA, MessengerWhite PeopleCarrier Proteinscorticotropin releasing factor-binding proteinCorticotropin-Releasing HormoneCRF Receptor, Type 1CRF receptor type 2Protein SubunitsReceptors, Corticotropin-Releasing HormoneReceptors, GABA-ARNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID14960621
PMCPMC6730322
OpenAlexW2159750050

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.