Relationships among endocrine and signaling-related responses to antidepressants in human monocytic U-937 blood cells: analysis of factors and response patterns.

Objective: Antidepressants (AD) (desipramine, imipramine, maprotiline, mirtazapine) and corticosteroid (CS) were examined for their effects on gene expression in human monocytic U-937 blood cells. Endocrine and signaling-related response patterns were determined by expression analysis of different factors, comprising endocrine (glucocorticoid receptor [GR], GR-alpha/beta/gamma; mineralocorticoid receptor [MR]) and signaling-related pathways (p105, STAT3, c-jun, c-fos, JNK1, GAPDH, TNF-alpha).

Methods: A semiquantitative RT-PCR for factor responses after 24 h of treatment was conducted and exploratory multivariate statistical procedures were applied for further analysis.