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Mood and Blood Have More In Common Than "ood"
Mental health is a sensitive and, at times, precarious issue. Disorders can be difficult to diagnose, those with disorders can be reluctant to seek treatment, and society has tended to look upon those with mental disorders or diseases with a mixture of skepticism and concern. But, the field of genomics is expanding our understanding of how genes predict or control a plethora of human biochemistry, and is beginning to offer insight into the true causes of mental diseases. A recent article in Molecular Psychology describes an approach for identifying blood biomarkers for mood state. Integrating data from animal and human gene expression, a method called convergent functional genomics, scientists from the Indiana University School of Medicine have identified five genes involved in myelination, and six genes involved in growth factor signaling, all of which have been previously linked to mood disorders.

The scientists hail this new approach because it can be used on live patients. Previous screening for these genes and their related expression characteristics in patients required postmortem analysis. This approach allows for analysis to be performed in periods of high and low mood, and offers the added benefit of being independent of patient self-reporting.

While the initial thrust of this research is aimed at clinical depression and manic-depression, the researchers are hopeful that a wide range of mood disorders may be more effectively diagnosed in the future.

To read the abstract, go here .
To read the Science Daily article, go here .
To read the ScientificBlogging article, go here .
 
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