A simple blood test may soon be on the anvil to detect people with depression and those vulnerable to suicidal ideation, according to a study that identified blood biomarkers linked to suicidal thoughts.While many people with depression experience improvement with psychotherapy and medication, some people’s depression is treatment-refractory, meaning treatment has little to no impact.
Suicidal thoughts are experienced by the majority of patients with treatment-refractory depression, and as many as 30 per cent will attempt suicide at least once in their lifetime.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine revealed a connection between cellular metabolism and depression.
They found that people with depression and suicidal ideation had detectable compounds in their blood that could help identify individuals at higher risk of becoming suicidal.
The researchers also found sex-based differences in how depression impacts cell metabolism.
The findings, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, could help personalise mental health care and potentially identify new targets for future drugs.
“Mental illnesses like depression have impacts and drivers well beyond the brain,” said Robert Naviaux, Professor in the Department of Medicine, Pediatrics and Pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
“Prior to about ten years ago it was difficult to study how the chemistry of the whole body influences our behaviour and state of mind, but modern technologies like metabolomics are helping us listen in on cells’ conversations in their native tongue, which is biochemistry,” Naviaux said.