Abstract
BackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by multiple factors. Although there are clear guidelines for the diagnosis of MDD, the direct and objective diagnostic methods remain inadequate thus far.MethodsThis study aims to discover peripheral biomarkers in patients with MDD and promote the diagnosis of MDD. Plasma samples of healthy controls (HCs, n = 52) and patients with MDD (n = 38) were collected, and then, metabolism analysis was performed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Heatmap analysis was performed to identify the different metabolites. Meanwhile, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of these differential metabolites were generated.ResultsSix differential metabolites were found by LC–MS/MS analysis. Three of these were increased, including L-aspartic acid (Asp), diethanolamine, and alanine. Three were decreased, including O-acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC), cystine, and fumarate. In addition, LAC, Asp, fumarate, and alanine showed large areas under the curve (AUCs) by ROC analysis.ConclusionThe study explored differences in peripheral blood between depressed patients and HCs. These results indicated that differential metabolites with large AUCs may have the potential to be promising biomarkers for the diagnosis of MDD.
Highlights
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, causing a dark mood, inferiority complex, disability, and even suicide, and seriously affects the quality of life of the patients [1]
On the basis of the above criteria, 52 healthy controls (HCs) and 38 patients with MDD were recruited into this study (Table 1)
Previous reports demonstrated that abnormal fatty acid metabolism was associated with depression [12]
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, causing a dark mood, inferiority complex, disability, and even suicide, and seriously affects the quality of life of the patients [1]. According to the prediction of the World Health Organization (WHO), MDD will become a major cause of disability worldwide by 2030 [2]. Many studies regarding the etiology and pathogenesis of MDD have made great progress, effective touchstones remain urgently needed for disease diagnosis. Within peripheral blood mononuclear cells, some metabolites are considered biomarkers, such as γaminobutyric acid and dopamine, with functions that serve as NTs [7]. As the understanding of relevant metabolites has increased, a growing number of biomarkers have improved the accuracy and specificity of the diagnosis of MDD. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by multiple factors. There are clear guidelines for the diagnosis of MDD, the direct and objective diagnostic methods remain inadequate far
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