Elevated Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) as Candidate Biomarker of Mood Disorders—Longitudinal Study in Adolescent and Young Adult Patients

Abstract

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic mental disorder that affects more than 1% of the population worldwide. Over 65% of patients experience early onset of the disease. Most cases of juvenile bipolar disorder begin with a depressed mood episode, and up to 50% of youth initially diagnosed with major depression go onto developing a BD. Our study aimed to find biomarkers of diagnosis conversion in young patients with mood disorders. We performed a two-year follow-up study on 79 adolescent patients diagnosed with MDD or BD, with a detailed clinical assessment at five visits. We monitored diagnosis change from MDD to BD. The control group consisted of 31 healthy youths. According to the neurodevelopmental and neuroimmunological hypotheses of mood disorders, we analyzed serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), proBDNF, epidermal growth factor (EGF), migration inhibitory factor (MIF), stem cell factor (SCF), and correlations with clinical factors. We detected a significant disease-dependent increase in EGF level in MDD and BP patients at baseline exacerbation of depressive or hypomanic/manic episodes as well as in euthymic state compared to healthy controls. No potential biological predictors of disease conversion were found. Replication studies on a larger cohort of patients are needed.

Ordering Knowledge in the Markers of Psychiatric/Mental Disorders

“…Some other potential markers of this Special Issue include the epidermal growth factor (EGF) at the onset of the exacerbation of depressive or hypomanic/manic episodes [33] and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) ratio, which has been suggested for differentiating bipolar from unipolar depression [34]. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a physiological biomarker collected from a wearable sensor's data was found to be helpful in its differential diagnosis [35], and some augmentations were suggested to help in its treatment [36].…”

Influence of N-Arachidonoyl Dopamine and N-Docosahexaenoyl Dopamine on the Expression of Neurotrophic Factors in Neuronal Differentiated Cultures of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells under Conditions of Oxidative Stress

“…Since a recent report demonstrated that the applied here Human/Mouse BDNF DuoSet ELISA kit cross-reacts 100% with proBDNF [ 27 ] and therefore detects total BDNF (mature BDNF plus proBDNF), we additionally measured the effects of N-ADA and N-DDA on the levels of proBDNF under OS conditions using a specific proBDNF ELISA kit. In cell lysates, the predominant form of BDNF is mature BDNF (more than 97%).…”

Maternal pre-pregnancy and prenatal penicillin, neonatal inflammation and growth factors are associated to ADHD in the offspring

“…Rat models have shown that EGF-treated rats can be used as animal models for psychiatric disorders due to changed behavior and/or cognitive dysfunctions ( Futamura et al, 2003 ). Studies has described increased serum levels of EGF in youth with depressive or hypomanic/manic episodes in bipolar disorders ( Skibinska et al, 2021 ). Thus, EGF's effect on cognitive functions is well described.…”