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http://goo.gl/dYczuAIdentifying and treating metabolic deficiencies in patients with treatment-resistant depression can improve symptoms and in some cases even lead to remission, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Searching for answers, Dr. Pan contacted Jerry Vockley, M.D., Ph.D., chair of genetics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and David Finegold, M.D., professor of human genetics at Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health, and through a series of biochemical tests, the three discovered that the patient had a cerebrospinal fluid deficiency in biopterin, a protein involved in the synthesis of several brain signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters.
After receiving an analogue of biopterin to correct the deficiency, the patient's depression symptoms largely disappeared and today he is a thriving college student.
The success prompted the researchers to examine other young adults with depression who were not responding to treatment, explained Dr. Pan.
In the published trial, the researchers looked for metabolic abnormalities in 33 adolescents and young adults with treatment-resistant depression and 16 controls. Although the specific metabolites affected differed among patients, the researchers found that 64 percent of the patients had a deficiency in neurotransmitter metabolism, compared with none of the controls.