A blood test for depression

Blood tests have been extremely important tools aiding doctors in making medical diagnoses and in guiding the treatment of many diseases. However, psychiatry is one area of medicine where there are few diagnostic blood tests.

Dutch researchers evaluated blood gene expression profiles in healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or MDD. They identified a set of seven genes in whole blood that was able to distinguish un-medicated MDD patients from healthy controls.

"This is a first, but major step in providing a molecular diagnostic tool for depression," explained Dr. Sabine Spijker, corresponding author of this study. Although psychiatry already has specific criteria for diagnosing mental health disorders, this type of diagnosis would be unbiased and particularly valuable for those with whom it is more difficult to have a conversation.

Original paper:

The article is "Stimulated Gene Expression Profiles as a Blood Marker of Major Depressive Disorder" by Sabine Spijker, et al. The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 68, Issue 2 (July 15, 2010)

Source:

http://www.physorg.com/news199010138.html