February 18, 2014

expert reaction to biomarkers for depression

Researchers from the University of Cambridge found evidence that suggests that cortisol levels in adolescent boys may be a biomarker for major depression. The work is published in PNAS.

Dr Oliver Howes, Spokesperson for European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) and Consultant Psychiatrist, Institute of Psychiatry / Maudsley Hospital, King’s College London, said:

“Depressive disorders are amongst the top causes of suffering and disability in the world. They are also incredibly costly to society. The 2011 European College of Neuropsychopharmacology report found mood disorders cost Europe over 110 billion Euros each year; the equivalent of the 2010 Greek bailout, every year. For these reasons we desperately need ways to identify people at high risk of depression early so we can potentially prevent its onset and treat it early to reduce its burden. In this context the study by Owen et al is a landmark in the field.

“It raises the real possibility that we could identify people at high risk of depression early. Their approach, based on a spit sample and some questions, is also elegant in its simplicity and potential to be used across settings. It’s also interesting that their risk marker was specific for men as depression is harder to pick up in men. The study is an important first step, but it is also important to realise it will take a lot of further work and funding before we get a test that can be routinely used in clinical practice”.

Dr John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Wellcome Trust, said:

“Progress in identifying biological markers for depression has been frustratingly slow, but now we finally have a biomarker for clinical depression. The approach taken by Professor Goodyer’s team may yet yield further biomarkers. It also gives tantalising clues about the gender differences in the causes and onset of depression.”

Comment from AusSMC

Professor Philip Mitchell is Principal Researcher at the Black Dog Institute and Head of the School of Psychiatry, UNSW.

“We have traditionally found it difficult to determine which young people are at increased risk of developing clinical depression, which means we have been unable to target interventions specifically to those that will need them.

“This significant study has shown that a relatively simple process might help us to identify the young men who will go from displaying mild symptoms of depression to life-threatening clinical depression.

“This finding suggests that trials of early intervention should be focussed on boys with this particular profile.”

‘Elevated morning cortisol is a stratified population level biomarker for major depression in boys only with high depressive symptoms’ by Owens et al. published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) on Monday 17th February.