Acylcarnitine metabolomic profiles inform clinically-defined major depressive phenotypes
What does brain activity look like after anti-depressant treatment and what is the basis for prescribing selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in the first place?
Stepping into the era of personalized treatment in major depressive disorders (MDD) requires better understanding of the biological basis of such treatment. It is also vital to understand what effects such pharmacological treatments may cause. Acylcarnitines which are known to be associated with mitochondrial function as well as a functional energy homeostasis and working fatty acid ß-oxidation, have recently become of interest for their role in depression. In the study at hand, Dr Ahmed of the Mayo Clinic describes the effects of the first 8 weeks of SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) administration on plasma acylcarnitines (stratified in short-/medium-/ and long-chain).
The results from acylcarnitine measurements are compared with the behavioral MDD sub-classifications for different patient group to determine if acylcarnitins levels match the behavioral diagnostics. Overall sub-classifications of MDDs changes were observed in plasma acylcarnitins. SSRI treatment was shown to be associated with an elevation in short-chain acylcarnitins and a reduction in medium- and long chain acylcarnitins. Additionally, it was shown the severity of this effect to be highly dependent on the sub-class of MDD the individual patient group suffers from.
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Ahmed A, MahmoudianDehkordi S, Bhattacharyya S, Arnold M, Liu D, Neavin D, Moseley MA, Thompson JW, St John Williams L, Louie G, Skime MK, Wang L, Riva-Posse P, McDonald WM, Bobo WV, Craighead WE, Krishnan R, Weinshilboum RM, Dunlop BW, Millington DS, Rush AJ, Frye MA, Kaddurah-Daouk R: Acylcarnitine metabolomic profiles inform clinically-defined major depressive phenotypes. (2020) Journal of Affective Disorders | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.122
