Brain chemical found to reduce anxiety
May 14, 2009 2:10 am
WASHINGTON, May 13 — A chemical involved in brain development may help reduce anxiety and even depression, US researchers said on Tuesday.
Javier Perez of the University of Michigan and his colleagues examined the levels of a brain chemical called fibroblast growth factor 2 or FGF2 in rats selectively bred for high or low anxiety for over 19 generations.
Consistent with the human depression studies, the rats bred for high anxiety had lower FGF2 levels compared with those bred for low anxiety, the researchers said in a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Improved environmental factors such as giving high-anxiety rats new toys to explore, as well as FGF2 administration, can help increase their levels of this brain chemical and reduce their anxiety, the researchers said.
"We have discovered that FGF2 has two important new roles: it's a genetic vulnerability factor for anxiety and a mediator for how the environment affects different individuals," Perez said.
"This is surprising, as FGF2 and related molecules are known primarily for organizing the brain during development and repairing it after injury," he said.
The study also suggests that part of FGF2's role in reducing anxiety may be due to its ability to increase the survival of new cells in a brain region called the hippocampus.
The findings, according to the researchers, advance understanding of cellular mechanisms involved in anxiety and may offer new drug targets for the treatment of anxiety and potentially for depression as well.
"This discovery may pave the way for new, more specific treatments for anxiety that will not be based on sedation — like currently prescribed drugs — but will instead fight the real cause of the disease," Pier Vincenzo Piazza of the University of Bordeaux in France, said. He was not involved in the study. (PNA/Xinhua)
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