The Promise of Biomarkers in Diagnosing Major Depression in Primary Care: the Present and Future

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder, but it can be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Most people with depression are seen in primary care settings, where there are limited resources to diagnose and treat the patient. There is a lack of clinically validated objective laboratory-based diagnostic tests to diagnose MDD; however, it is clear that these tests could greatly improve the correct and timely diagnosis. This review aims to give a cross-sectional view of current efforts of DNA methylomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic approaches to identify biomarkers. We outline our view of the biomarker developmental steps from discovery to clinical application. We then propose that better cooperation will lead us closer to the common goal of identifying biological biomarkers for major depression. "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Albert Einstein.

The link between long noncoding RNAs and depression

“…Recent years, advances have been made in improving the diagnosis and treatment of MDD patients, for example, many promising biomarkers have been intensively investigated for the early diagnosis of MDD and as treatment targets for novel drug development (Redei and Mehta, 2015). Despite these, many efforts still needed in future studies.…”

Violence and depression in a community sample

“…On the other hand, depression can be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because people cannot acknowledge their depressive illness or because they not suffer it at this moment, but this does not mean that they have not suffered from it at any time (Montesó‐Curto et al . , Redei & Mehta ).…”

“…It causes depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders (Humphreys & Ravi 2003, Lambert et al 2013, Maercker & Hecker 2016. On the other hand, depression can be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because people cannot acknowledge their depressive illness or because they not suffer it at this moment, but this does not mean that they have not suffered from it at any time (Montes o-Curto et al 2014, Redei & Mehta 2015.…”

Animal Models in Psychiatric Disorder Studies

“…Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, complex, and heterogeneous mental disorder, characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest in general activities, affecting about 10% of the population worldwide, and which is caused by multifactorial mechanisms not fully understood yet, characterizing MDD as a disorder with many variations in clinical features among the patients, imposing a consequent high variability in the diagnosis, time course of response and remission [45], which is one of the main reasons justifying the intensive search for animal models and biomarkers, aiming for advances in MDD diagnosis [46]. In addition, these advances could be helpful for a better classification for depressive spectrum, and thereby for improving the treatment [47].…”