Simple Blood Test Could Diagnosis Bipolar Disorder
Posted on: Monday, 3 March 2008, 09:50 CST
Researchers at Indiana University reported that concentrations of certain chemicals called “biomarkers” in the blood were directly associated with the presence and severity of mood disorders.The scientists hope the new discovery could pave the way to better diagnoses of the disorder through simple blood tests. Such blood tests could also be used to determine the efficacy of medicines used to treat the illness. Today, no such objective clinical blood test exists for diagnosing mood disorders, and doctors typically rely on their own judgment in assessing a patient’s condition.
"This discovery is a major step towards bringing psychiatry on par with other medical specialties that have diagnostic tools to measure disease states and the effectiveness of treatments,” said Dr. Alexander Niculescu, the study’s lead researcher, in a BBC News report.
"Although psychiatrists have been aware that bipolar illness and other psychiatric conditions produced molecular changes in the brain, there was no way to measure those changes while the patient was living.
"Blood now can be used as a surrogate tissue to diagnose and assess the severity of the illness," he said.
The study’s results are based on genetic examination of blood samples from 96 participants with bipolar disorder, a condition formerly known as manic depression. Some of the participants were in a manic phase when the sample was taken, while others were in a depressive phase . The research was additionally enforced by data obtained from work with mice.
Among the biomarkers identified in the study were six genes involved in controlling growth in the body, and five involved in the formation of the myelin sheath that protects the nerves.
Professor David Kendall, a pharmacologist at the University of Nottingham, told BBC News any correlation between a patient's psychiatric condition and expression of particular genes could potentially provide doctors with insight into the development of disease. However, he said a full understanding of how the proteins manufactured by these genes impact behavior is still a long way off.
"It is unlikely that GPs and psychiatrists in the UK are going to be taking blood samples in the near future to aid diagnosis," he said.
The researchers plan to complete large study examining how biomarkers respond after patients are given medication.
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The report was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. A summary can be viewed at http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/mp200811a.html
Indiana University
University of Nottingham
Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports
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