Globally, 1 in 4 people will suffer from depression in their lifetime. Although current diagnosis and treatment methods are largely trial and error, a breakthrough study by researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine reveals the biological basis of mood disorders and provides a promising blood test , Which aims to use precision medicine for treatment.
Under the leadership of Dr. Alexander B. Niculescu, Professor of Psychiatry at the IU School of Medicine, this study was published today (April 8, 2021) in the high-impact journal Molecular Psychiatry. This work builds on Niculescu and his colleagues' previous research on blood biomarkers that track suicide and pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Alzheimer's disease.
The team’s work describes the development of a blood test composed of RNA biomarkers that can distinguish how severe a patient’s depression is, their risk of developing major depression in the future, and the future of bipolar disorder (bipolar disorder). )risks of. The test also provides a reference for the patient's tailor-made drug selection.
This comprehensive study lasted four years and recruited more than 300 participants from the patient population of the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis. The team adopted a cautious approach of four steps: discovery, prioritization, verification, and testing. First, long-term follow-up of participants. Researchers observe their conditions in high mood and low mood, and each time they record the changes in the biomarkers (biomarkers) in their blood between the two states.
Next, Niculescu's team used all the large databases previously developed in this field to cross-validate and prioritize their research results. From here, the researchers verified the first 26 candidate biomarkers in an independent cohort of patients with clinically severe depression or mania. Finally, these biomarkers were tested in additional independent cohorts to determine how strong they are in predicting who will be sick and who will be sick in the future.
From this method, researchers can prove how to match patients with drugs and even find a new potential drug to treat depression. In addition to the diagnosis and treatment progress found in the latest research, Niculescu's team also found that mood disorders are controlled by circadian clock genes, which regulate seasonality, day and night, and sleep and wake cycles. This explains why some patients get worse with the change of seasons and sleep changes in mood disorders.
The translation of the results of this research into clinical practice opens the door, and at the same time contributes to the development of new drugs, which is essential for improving the quality of life of countless patients.
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