Establishment of biological marker and pathophysiological study of depression using omics analysis

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H02751
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52030:Psychiatry-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: OHMORI Tetsuro 徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(医学域), 教授 (00221135)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 沼田 周助 徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(医学域), 准教授 (10403726) ; 渡部 真也 徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(医学域), 助教 (90563825)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 臨床精神分子遺伝学 / オミックス解析 / うつ病 / 診断マーカー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We attempted to make diagnostic markers for depression by introducing omics analysis technology, and also investigated a customized and simple measurement method. We established an enzymatic method for the practical measurement of glutamate, a candidate marker. The specificity of glutamate alone was low, and no significant association with therapeutic response was observed. We attempted to develop a method to measure candidate marker sites by methylation modification changes using Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP), but it proved difficult to detect small differences between depressed and healthy subjects. In bipolar disorder, it was found that the methylation differences compared with the normal group were small, the differences were not similar to those of depression, and certain gene groups were affected by mood stabilizers.

Free Research Field

精神医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

先端的オミックス解析を使用して複数の指標を抽出し、それをうつ病の診断補助マーカーとする国際的にみても先駆的な試みであり、学術的意義は高い。これまでの生物学的指標はひとつの測定値に依拠していたため、感度と特異性に限界があり、実用レベルには至っていない。本研究は、先端的測定技術を用いて、複数の指標を検討して、それらを組み合わせることによって、うつ病の診断評価を高い精度で可能とする道を開いた。技術的進歩によって解析は安価で迅速となり、しかも被験者負担が数mlの採血のみなので患者の同意を得やすく、どこの診察室でも施行可能な検査となる可能性を持っている。