Blood Test a Breakthrough
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a blood test that may offer new hope for treatment of depression and bipolar disorder.
The study, published earlier this year in Molecular Psychiatry and funded by the National Institutes of Health, was led by Dr. Alexander B. Niculescu.
“This is part of our effort to bring psychiatry from the 19th century into the 21st century,” Niculescu said in a news release. “To help it become like other contemporary fields such as oncology. Ultimately, the mission is to save and improve lives.”
The IU team developed a blood test of RNA biomarkers that can distinguish how severe a patient’s depression is, their risk of severe depression in the future and their risk of future bipolar disorder. It also can inform tailored medication choices for patients.
“Through this work, we wanted to develop blood tests for depression and for bipolar disorder, to distinguish between the two and to match people to the right treatments,” Niculescu said. “Blood biomarkers are emerging as important tools in disorders where subjective self-report by an individual, or a clinical impression of a health care professional, are not always reliable. These blood tests can open the door to precise, personalized matching with medications.”
IU’s team also found that mood disorders are governed by circadian clock genes, the same that regulate seasonal, day-night and sleep-wake cycles. It explains why some patients get worse with seasonal changes.
“We’ve worked hard over the years to identify blood biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disorders,” Niculescu said. “Given the fact that 1 in 4 people will have a clinical mood disorder episode in their lifetime, the need for and importance of efforts such as ours cannot be overstated.”
This study builds on Niculescu’s previous research into blood biomarkers that track the risk of suicide, pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. During the course of this study,
Niculescu’s team also identified a new potential medication to treat depression.
“We have pioneered the area of precision medicine in psychiatry over the last two decades, particularly over the last 10 years,” Niculescu said. “Blood biomarkers offer realworld clinical practice advantages.”