Fig. 2

Effects of MDD and antidepressant treatment on the expression of MAPKs and on the expression of the MAPK activity regulator DUSP2. When considering the phosphorylated forms of the proteins, p-ERK1/2, p-JNK, and the ratio between p-p38/total p38 were clearly higher in MDD than in controls (a, c, e). The expression values were selectively increased in AD-treated subjects (b, d, f). Analysis of covariance controlling for BMI did not modify p-p38/total p38 ratio results. DUSP2 expression was decreased in MDD compared with matched controls (g), and this statistical difference appeared both in the subjects AD-free at time of death and in AD-treated subjects when compared with controls (h). The densitometric data of the band of interest were normalized by beta-actin. Some blots were cropped (black lines) for improving the clarity and conciseness of the presentation. Data are means ± SEM; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. control; unpaired two-tailed t test was performed when comparing controls vs MDD. One-way ANOVA with a Fisher’s LSD post hoc test was used to compare between controls and AD-free and AD-treated MDD groups. See the “Chemicals and statistical analyses” section for more details