ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct 14, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- U.S. researchers have found the brains of people with severe depression have lower levels of several important molecules.

University of Michigan researchers said the molecules, called fibroblast growth factors, or FGFs, are key to the development, organization, growth and repair of the brains. FGF levels are lower in depressed people than in the brains of people without the disease or those with the bipolar form of depression.

The discovery, which surprised the researchers, suggests a whole new direction for understanding depression and developing new depression treatments. It might even help scientists understand how some anti-depressant medications work in the brain to ease symptoms, and why there is wide variation in how depressed people respond to different anti-depressants.

The finding was made in two specific areas of the brain known to be important to depression. The researchers found FGF levels and levels of two of the receptors that bind to them were significantly lower among people who had been diagnosed with severe clinical depression and had died in a depressed state.

The researchers said there also was some evidence depressed people who had been taking anti-depressants before their deaths had levels of FGF and FGF receptors that were closer to normal.

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