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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1425552
Correlating Plasma Protein Profiles with Symptomatology and Treatment Response in Acute Phase and Early Remission of Major Depressive Disorder
Provisionally accepted- 1 Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
- 2 Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, South Moravia, Czechia
Objectives: This study aimed to explore the relationship between plasma proteome and the clinical features of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) during treatment of acute episode. Methods: In this longitudinal observational study, 26 patients hospitalized for moderate to severe MDD were analyzed. The study utilized Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) alongside clinical metrics, including symptomatology derived from the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Plasma protein analysis was conducted at the onset of acute depression and 6 weeks into treatment. Analytical methods comprised of Linear Models for Microarray Data (LIMMA), Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA), Generalized Linear Models, Random Forests, and The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Results: Five distinct plasma protein modules were identified, correlating with specific biological processes, and uniquely associated with symptom presentation, the disorder's trajectory, and treatment response. A module rich in proteins related to adaptive immunity was correlated with the manifestation of somatic syndrome, treatment response, and inversely associated with achieving remission. A module associated with cell adhesion was linked to affective symptoms and avolition, and played a role in the initial episodes and treatment response. Another module, characterized by proteins involved in blood coagulation and lipid transport, exhibited negative correlations with a variety of MDD symptoms and was predominantly associated with the manifestation of psychotic symptoms. Conclusions: This research points to a complex interplay between the plasma proteome and MDD's clinical presentation, suggesting that somatic, affective, and psychotic symptoms may represent distinct endophenotypic manifestations of MDD. These insights hold potential for advancing targeted therapeutic strategies and diagnostic tools. Limitations: The study's limited sample size and its naturalistic design, encompassing diverse treatment modalities, present methodological constraints. Furthermore, the analysis focused on peripheral blood proteins, with potential implications for interpretability.
Keywords: Major Depressive Disorder, Plasma proteomics, LC-MS/MS, immune response, Symptom presentation, treatment response, Biomarker in Depression
Received: 30 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Křenek, Bartečková, Makarová, Pompa, Fialová Kučerová, Kučera, Damborská, Hořínková and Bienertová-Vašků. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Eliška Bartečková, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
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