Researchers are one step closer to developing a blood test that provides a simple biochemical hallmark for depression and reveals the efficacy of drug therapy in individual patients.
Published in a new proof of concept study, researchers have identified a biomarker in human platelets that tracks the extent of depression.
The research builds off of previous studies by several investigators that have shown in humans and animal models that depression is consistent with decreased adenylyl cyclase — a small molecule inside the cell that is made in response to neurotransmitters such as serotonin and epinephrine.
“When you are depressed, adenylyl cyclase is low. The reason adenylyl cyclase is attenuated is that the intermediary protein that allows the neurotransmitter to make the adenylyl cyclase, Gs alpha, is stuck in a cholesterol-rich matrix of the membrane — a lipid raft – where they don’t work very well,” the senior author said.
The new study published in Molecular Psychiatry, has identified the cellular biomarker for translocation of Gs alpha from lipid rafts. The biomarker can be identified through a blood test.
“What we have developed is a test that can not only indicate the presence of depression but it can also indicate therapeutic response with a single biomarker, and that is something that has not existed to date,” said the author.
The researchers hypothesize they will be able to use this blood test to determine if antidepressant therapies are working, perhaps as soon as one week after beginning treatment. Previous research has shown that when patients showed improvement in their depression symptoms, the Gs alpha was out of the lipid raft. However, in patients who took antidepressants but showed no improvement in their symptoms, the Gs alpha was still stuck in the raft — meaning simply having antidepressants in the bloodstream was not good enough to improve symptoms.
A blood test may be able to show whether or not the Gs alpha was out of the lipid raft after one week.
“Because platelets turn over in one week, you would see a change in people who were going to get better. You’d be able to see the biomarker that should presage successful treatment,” the author said.
Currently, patients and their physicians have to wait several weeks, sometimes months, to determine if antidepressants are working, and when it is determined they aren’t working, different therapies are tried.
“About 30% of people don’t get better — their depression doesn’t resolve. Perhaps, failure begets failure and both doctors and patients make the assumption that nothing is going to work,” the author said. “Most depression is diagnosed in primary care doctor’s offices where they don’t have sophisticated screening. With this test, a doctor could say, ‘Gee, they look like they are depressed, but their blood doesn’t tell us they are. So, maybe we need to re-examine this.’”
https://today.uic.edu/researchers-identify-biomarker-for-depression-antidepressant-response
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01399-1
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fa-novel-peripheral&filter=22
A biomarker for depression, antidepressant response identified!
- 1,324 views
- Added
Latest News
Serotonin 2C receptor regul…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
First TB specific PET scan
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Molecular mechanisms of som…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Jul
A distinct macrophage popul…
By newseditor
Posted 30 Jun
Sex differences in neurolog…
By newseditor
Posted 30 Jun
Other Top Stories
Monoclonal antibodies from Human TB patient blocks Mycobacterium in…
Read more
COVID-19 transmission on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
Read more
Carbohydrate slime makes cystic fibrosis bacteria antibiotic resistant
Read more
Epigraph vaccine protects against dozen-plus flu strains
Read more
One versus two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
Read more
Protocols
Monitoring norepinephrine r…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Jul
BicemuS: A new tool for neu…
By newseditor
Posted 26 Jun
Deciphering spatial domains…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Jun
High-throughput volumetric…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Bioengineered human colon o…
By newseditor
Posted 14 Jun
Publications
Pharmacological targeting o…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Pharmacological targeting o…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Bidirectional brain-body in…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Neural circuits expressing…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Distributable, metabolic PE…
By newseditor
Posted 02 Jul
Presentations
Myelin plasticity in the ve…
By newseditor
Posted 10 Jun
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar