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Potential Use of MicroRNA for Monitoring Therapeutic Response to Antidepressants

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Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious and common psychiatric disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. The most common treatment methods for MDD are antidepressant drugs, many of which act by regulating monoamines by inhibiting pre-synaptic reuptake and/or by modulating monoamine receptors. Despite advances in antidepressants and other treatment options, therapy is often based on subjective decisions made by the physician. Moreover, it requires time to determine treatment outcome and to define whether the prescribed treatment is effective. Biomarkers may help identify individuals with MDD who are more likely to respond to specific antidepressant treatment and may thus provide more objectivity in treatment decision making. MicroRNA as biomarkers of antidepressant response has engendered substantial enthusiasm. In this review, we give a detailed overview of biomarkers, particularly the major studies that have investigated microRNA in relationship to antidepressant treatment response.

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Author notes

  1. R. Belzeaux and R. Lin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 6875 boulevard LaSalle, Montreal, QC, H4H 1R3, Canada

    Raoul Belzeaux, Rixing Lin & Gustavo Turecki

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  1. Raoul Belzeaux
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  2. Rixing Lin
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  3. Gustavo Turecki
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Correspondence to Gustavo Turecki.

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Funding

GT is supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN: 148374, 141899, 93775, 11260, 119429, and 119430), from the US National Institutes of Health (1R01DA033684), by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec—Santé through the Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Related Disorders, and through an investigator-initiated research grant from Pfizer.

Conflicts of interest

Raoul Belzeaux, Rixing Lin and Gustavo Turecki have no conflicts of interest.

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Belzeaux, R., Lin, R. & Turecki, G. Potential Use of MicroRNA for Monitoring Therapeutic Response to Antidepressants. CNS Drugs 31, 253–262 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-017-0418-z

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