New diagnostics for psychiatric disorders
Previous EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) projects such as MOODINFLAME and SchizDX have identified biomarkers that show promise in detecting such disorders. The assays detected altered immune responses along with an abnormal neuroendocrine set point. However, their approach of detecting single molecules in patient samples proved to be inconsistent, imprecise and not robust enough. Five academia and five industrial partners have joined forces under the aegis of the PSYCH-AID (Advanced immuno-neuro-endocrine diagnostics in psychiatry) project. Partners will work on combining promising immune-neuro-endocrine factors to develop clinically applicable biomarker tests. For this purpose, they will study SZ and mood disorder patients to validate and register sets of immune-neuro-endocrine biomarker tests. In the first two years, PSYCH-AID recruited patients with SZ as well as those with mood disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Already, sample collection is complete and testing as well as data analyses is ongoing. Significant progress has been made with regard to evaluating new genes for inclusion in the biomarker sets to differentiate between disease subgroups. Genes of interest include the glucocorticoid receptor genes, interferon-induced genes, the KAT enzymes and genes of the ferritin/transerythrin pathway. PSYCH-AID successfully developed relevant assays and antibodies to identify immune cell growth factors in patient samples. Testing revealed that patient subgroups such as MDD and BD offspring had immune growth factor deficiencies. Furthermore, 51 analytes are being refined for SZ diagnosis and identification of more analytes for MDD and SZ treatment prognosis is ongoing. Already, key abnormal tryptophan catabolite (trypcat) pathways were identified and suitable antibodies developed. Validation of differential biomarkers is ongoing with researchers noting an interaction between immune markers and trypcats. The combined biomarker panel approach shows great promise for classifying MDD patient subgroups. A first, PSYCH-AID has developed a marketable test system to objectively diagnose SZ. Incorporation of genomic and trypcat panels along with suitable software will enhance the reliability and robustness of this test system. Besides enhancing the competitiveness of participating European businesses, more accurate diagnostic and prognostic techniques for psychiatric disorders will substantially improve the quality of life of patients.
Keywords
Diagnostics, psychiatric, schizophrenia, mood disorders, biomarker panel, trypcat
