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

  • Psychiatry in Primary Care (BN Gaynes, Section Editor)
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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.

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Acknowledgments

This material is the result of work supported by the Davee Foundation.

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Conflict of Interest

Neha S. Mehta declares no conflict of interest. Eva E. Redei reports grants from NIH and from the Davee foundation, some of which is on topics outside the submitted work. In addition, Dr. Redei is named as an inventor on three pending patents owned by Northwestern University: Redei EE, Andrus B: Methods for Detection of Depressive Disorders, Redei EE: Biomarkers predictive of predisposition to depression and response to treatment, and Redei EE: Compositions and methods for characterizing depressive disorders.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. The Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 E Chicago Ave 13-100, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Eva E. Redei & Neha S. Mehta

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Correspondence to Eva E. Redei.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychiatry in Primary Care

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Redei, E.E., Mehta, N.S. The Promise of Biomarkers in Diagnosing Major Depression in Primary Care: the Present and Future. Curr Psychiatry Rep 17, 64 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0601-1

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