A study published in Molecular Psychiatryshows
that patient-derived adult stem cells can be used to model major depressive
disorder and test how a patient may respond to medication.
Using stem cells from adults
with a clinical diagnosis of depression, the researchers who conducted
the study also found that fish oil, when tested in the model, created an
antidepressant response.
The research provides a number
of novel findings that can help scientists better understand how the brain
works and why some people respond to drug treatment for depression, while
others experience limited benefits from antidepressant medication.
Major depressive disorder, or
depression, is the most common psychiatric disorder. Around one in six
individuals will experience at least one depressive episode in their lifetime.
However, antidepressant treatment fails in about one-third of patients.
In the study, researchers used
skin cells from adults with depression that were converted into stem cells at
Massachusetts General Hospital and then directed those stem cells to develop
into nerve cells. The skin biopsies were taken from two types of patients:
people who previously responded to antidepressant treatment and people who have
previously been resistant to antidepressants.
When fish oil was tested, the
models from treatment-sensitive and treatment-resistant patients both
responded.
The response was similar to that
seen from prescription antidepressants, but it was produced through a different
mechanism. The fish oil was acting, in part, on glial cells, not neurons. The
study suggests that glia may also be important for antidepressant action.
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