Precision medicine can also prevent suicide? Scientists develop liquid biopsy methods that predict suicidal tendencies

Release date: 2017-08-21

A team led by the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine recently said they have developed a new, personalized blood test for everyone, to diagnose suicidal tendencies and high-risk groups in different subtypes. This latest research was recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, the top journal in the field of mental illness, entitled "Precision Medicine for Suicidality: From Universality to Subtypes and Personalization."

In addition, the researchers presented two application services, one based on the Suicide Risk Assessment Scale and the other based on the detection of anxiety and depression. Both services include appropriate blood tests to improve accuracy and suggest possible lifestyle, psychotherapy and other interventions. The researchers pointed out that this method can also help them choose a range of drugs and natural substances for suicide prevention.

The research team wrote: "In this study, we developed a larger cohort than before to explore whether a biomarker for suicide risk gene expression (ie, a liquid biopsy method) can be developed through the blood. A more general diagnostic method for mental illness. These markers may reflect and/or become the core biological laws of suicide. We have adopted a comprehensive phased approach and achieved success with rich results."

With regard to this phase of research, the researchers first performed a series of phased blood tests on 66 patients diagnosed with mental disorders. Over time, according to the research team, at least one case had a significant change in the level of suicidal thinking from the last detection to the next. Subsequently, the research team prioritized the biomarkers of candidate gene expression based on suicidal tendencies between each individual and individual.

Subsequently, the researchers tested the effectiveness of these biomarkers with blood samples from 45 suicide individuals. To further judge validity, the researchers also tested these biomarkers on another group of individuals to determine whether the method was effective in predicting who had a strong suicidal tendency and required hospitalization.

The researchers eventually found that some RNA molecules can be used as biomarkers of suicidal tendencies, and their levels change with the patient's suicidal tendency.

Alexander B. Niculescu III, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Indiana University School of Medicine, said: "Our work provides the foundation for precision medicine and scientific mental health prevention."

With the development of precision medicine, it is believed that in the near future, scientists can find out more molecular markers related to mental illness, and the risk of detecting mental illness through blood will be just around the corner.

Reference material

Precision Medicine for Suicidality: From Universality to Subtypes and Personalization

Source: Sequencing China (micro signal seq114)

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