Summary: Researchers have identified nine microarn -based microarn that are elevated in adolescents diagnosed with depression, offering a potential biomarker for early detection. These molecules, absent in adult depression, can indicate unique biological processes in adolescents.
The study used a minimally invasive method that involves dry blood spots, which makes it practical for broader detection applications. This advance could lead to a more objective and early diagnosis of adolescent depression, before the symptoms are severe or resistant to treatment.
Key facts:
Unique biomarkers: nine microarn raised in depressed adolescents were not found in adult depression. Minimally invasive tests: Dry blood spots of fingertips allow a long -term scalable sample collection.
Source: McGill University
Using a new laboratory method they developed, researchers at the University of McGill have identified nine blood molecules that were high in adolescents diagnosed with depression. These molecules also predicted how symptoms could progress over time.
The clinical study findings could pave the way for the earliest detection, before the symptoms worse and become difficult to treat.
“Wiring, more and more teenagers are being diagnosed with depression, and when it starts early, the effects can be durable and serious,” said Senior Author Cecilia Flores, James McGill’s professor in the department of Psychiatry at McGill, researcher at the Douglas Research Center and principal researcher at the Ludmer Center.
“Adolescents with depression are more likely to fight with substance consumption, social isolation and experience symptoms that often do not respond well to treatment.”
In particular, the nine molecules, known as microarn, have not been related to adult depression, suggesting that they reflect exclusive biological processes of adolescents.
A minimally invasive and scalable approach
The study, conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University, focused on 62 adolescents: 34 with depression and 28 SIN.
The researchers collected small volumes of blood samples, let them dry and then frozen the samples to preserve molecular integrity over time. These samples are taken with a simple finger puncture and are easy to store and transport, which makes the focus practical and scalable for broader use.
The McGill team developed the laboratory method used to extract and analyze microar from the samples.
“Our findings are paving the way to use dry blood spots as a practical tool in psychiatric research, which allows us to trace early biological changes linked to mental health using a minimally invasive method,” said the first author Alice Morgunva, postdoctoral fellow in McGill.
The diagnosis of depression is mainly based on self -informed symptoms. The authors say that this could delay attention, especially if adolescents do not recognize the signs or are not ready to talk about them. A blood -based detection tool could provide additional and more objective metric to identify adolescents at risk.
Researchers plan to validate their findings in larger teenagers and study how these microarn interact with genetic and environmental risk factors.
About the study
“The peripheral microarn firms in adolescent depression” by Alice Morgunva and Cecilia Flores et al., Was published in Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science.
Funding: The Study Was Finded by the Douglas Foundation and Bombardier Fund Grant, The National Institute on Drug Abuse of Nih, The Canadian Institute of Health Research, The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, to Healthy Brains For Healthy Lives Graduate Student Fellowship, An integrated. In Neuroscience Internal Award, and postdoctoral Felowship from the McGill-Douglas Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry International Collaborative Initiative in Adversity and Mental Health, an international association funded by the Fund of Excellence in Canada’s research, awarded to McGill University by the Healthy Brains For Health For Health. Lives.
On this news of depression and genetics research
Author: Keila Depope
Source: McGill University
Contact: Keila Depape – McGill University
Image: The image is accredited to Neuroscience News
Original research: open access.
“Peripheral microarn signatures in adolescent depression” by Cecilia Flores et al. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
Abstract
Peripheral microarn signatures in adolescent depression
Background
Adolescent depression is linked to durable maladaptive results, the chronic severity of symptoms and bad response to treatment. The identification of epigenetic signatures of adolescent depression is urgently needed to improve early prevention and intervention strategies.
The microarn are epigenetic regulators of the adolescent neurological development processes, but their role of markers and mediators of adolescent depression is unknown.
Methods
Here we examine the microarn profiles of dry blood spots of male and female adolescents clinically depressed and psychiatrically healthy. We process and sequence these samples using a small RNA protocol adapted for the identification of microarn.
Results
We identify nine microarn expressed differentially (value adjusted P <0.05), all of which regulated in adolescents with depression. In future follow-up after blood collection, MIR-3613-5P, MIR-30C-2 and MIR-942-5P positively associated with the seriousness of depression but not anxiety, which suggests a stronger link with the symptoms of persistent depression.
The expression of MIR-32-5P correlated inversely with the volume of the hippocampus, highlighting a potential neurobiological base. The common -prosticated genetic objectives of microarn are involved in neurological development, cognitive processing and depressive disorders.
Conclusions
These findings feel the basis for identifying adolescent peripheral microarn markers that reflect neurological development routes that shape the risk of life psychopathology.
