Precision Medicine in Depression: The Role of Proteomics and Metabolomics in Personalized Treatment Approaches.

Depression, or major depressive disorder (MDD), is a widespread mental health condition marked by enduring feelings of sorrow and loss of interest. Treatment of depression frequently combines psychotherapy, medication, and lifestyle modifications. However, the occurrence of treatment resistance in certain individuals makes it difficult for physicians to effectively manage this disorder, calling for the implementation of alternative therapeutic strategies.

Telepsychiatry in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorders.

This chapter explores the transformative role of telepsychiatry in managing major depressive disorders (MDD). Traversing geographical barriers and reducing stigma, this innovative branch of telemedicine leverages digital platforms to deliver effective psychiatric care. We investigate the evolution of telepsychiatry, examining its diverse interventions such as videoconferencing-based psychotherapy, medication management, and mobile applications.

The Potential and Challenges of Virtual Reality as an Adjunctive Treatment of Depression Patients.

Virtual reality (VR) is a promising supplemental or alternative approach for treating depression. Focusing on the unique affordances of VR, such as immersive therapeutic settings and uniform treatment delivery, this study explores both the current applications and future potential of VR technology in treating and assessing depression. VR provides users with an "immersive" and "presence" experience through multisensory stimulation.

The Importance of Psychotherapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Many clinicians choose psychoanalytic psychotherapy or supportive psychotherapy as the primary method of treating depression with or without antidepressant medications. Despite new antidepressants, 20% or more patients showed inadequate responses to the medications, and remained in chronic courses, known as "treatment-resistant depression (TRD)."In this chapter, we described (1) the reasons for psychotherapy in treating TRD from the perspectives of the hazard of polypharmacy, resistance, and neural mechanisms.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in Major Depression: Oldies but Goodies.

Electroconvulsive therapy is one of the useful treatment methods for symptom improvement and remission in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Considering the various clinical characteristics of patients experiencing depression, key indicators are extracted from structural brain magnetic resonance imaging, functional brain magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography (EEG) data taken before treatment, and applied as explanatory variables in machine learning and network analysis. Studies that attempt to make reliable predictions about the degree of response to electroconvulsive treatment and the possibility of remission in patients with treatment-resistant depression are continuously being published.

Endocrinological Treatment Targets for Depressive Disorder.

Depressive disorder exhibits heterogeneity in clinical presentation, progression, and treatment outcomes. While conventional antidepressants based on the monoamine hypothesis benefit many patients, a significant proportion remains unresponsive or fails to fully recover. An individualized integrative treatment approach, considering diverse pathophysiologies, holds promise for these individuals.

Neural correlates of treatment response to ketamine for treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review of MRI-based studies.

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is defined as patients diagnosed with depression having a history of failure with different antidepressants with an adequate dosage and treatment duration. The NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine rapidly reduces depressive symptoms in TRD. We examined neural correlates of treatment response to ketamine in TRD through a systematic review of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.

Association of metabolic dysfunction with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease: A review of metabolomic evidence.

The discovery of new biomarkers that can distinguish Alzheimer's disease (AD) from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in the early stages will help to provide new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and slow the transition from MCI to AD. Patients with AD may present with a concomitant metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia, as a risk factor for AD that may be involved in the onset of both AD pathology and cognitive impairment. Therefore, metabolite profiling, or metabolomics, can be very useful in diagnosing AD, developing new therapeutic targets, and evaluating both the course of treatment and the clinical course of the disease.

Molecular Imaging of Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurocognitive disorder. Due to the ineffectiveness of treatments targeting the amyloid cascade, molecular biomarkers for neuroinflammation are attracting attention with increasing knowledge about the role of neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of AD. This chapter will explore the results of studies using molecular imaging for diagnosing AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis in Major Depression: A New Therapeutic Approach.

Major depression is impacted by the disruption of gut microbiota. Defects in gut microbiota can lead to microbiota-gut-brain axis dysfunction and increased vulnerability to major depression. While traditional chemotherapeutic approaches, such as antidepressant use, produce an overall partial therapeutic effect on depression, the gut microbiome has emerged as an effective target for better therapeutic outcomes.

Early Life Stress, Neuroinflammation, and Psychiatric Illness of Adulthood.

Stress exposure during early stages of life elevates the risk of developing psychopathologies and psychiatric illness in later life. The brain and immune system are not completely developed by birth and therefore continue develop after birth; this post birth development is influenced by several psychosocial factors; hence, early life stress (ELS) exposure can alter brain structural development and function. A growing number of experimental animal and observational human studies have investigated the link between ELS exposure and increased risk of psychopathology through alternations in the immune system, by evaluating inflammation biomarkers.

Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Pathophysiological Mechanism in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Gut microbiota influence human behavior. The immunological, metabolic, and endocrine systems are involved in bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain, which is regulated by microbes through the microbiota-derived neurochemicals and metabolites. Gut microbiota have certain effects on neurodevelopment and maturation of immunity.

Neuron-Microglia Crosstalk in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Numerous studies have investigated the causes and mechanisms of psychiatric disorders through postmortem examination of patients with a history of a schizophrenia, mood disorder, or neurocognitive disorder. In addition, the search for specific mechanism-based treatments for psychiatric disorders has been intensified through the use of transgenic animal models involving specific genes tightly associated with psychiatric disorders. As a result, many studies with patients or animal models have reported a close association of neuroglia with major psychiatric disorders.

The shared molecular mechanisms underlying aging of the brain, major depressive disorder, and Alzheimer's disease: The role of circadian rhythm disturbances.

An association with circadian clock function and pathophysiology of aging, major depressive disorder (MDD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is well established and has been proposed as a factor in the development of these diseases. Depression and changes in circadian rhythm have been increasingly suggested as the two primary overlapping and interpenetrating changes that occur with aging. The relationship between AD and depression in late life is not completely understood and probably is complex.

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and posttraumatic stress disorders - Version 3. Part II: OCD and PTSD.

Aim: This is the third version of the guideline of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Task Force for the Pharmacological Treatment of Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive and Posttraumatic Stress Disorders which was published in 2002 and revised in 2008.

Method: A consensus panel of 34 international experts representing 22 countries developed recommendations based on efficacy and acceptability of the treatments. In this version, not only medications but also psychotherapies and other non-pharmacological interventions were evaluated, applying the same rigorous methods that are standard for the assessment of medication treatments.

Possible oxytocin-related biomarkers in anxiety and mood disorders.

Anxiety and mood disorders are prevalent, disabling, and frequently difficult to treat. Such disorders are often comorbid and share similar characteristics. For more accurate diagnosis and improved treatment, a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of anxiety and mood disorders is important.

Associations between Melatonin, Neuroinflammation, and Brain Alterations in Depression.

Pro-inflammatory systemic conditions that can cause neuroinflammation and subsequent alterations in brain regions involved in emotional regulation have been suggested as an underlying mechanism for the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). A prominent feature of MDD is disruption of circadian rhythms, of which melatonin is considered a key moderator, and alterations in the melatonin system have been implicated in MDD. Melatonin is involved in immune system regulation and has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties in inflammatory conditions, through both immunological and non-immunological actions.

Changes in Brain Electrical Activity According to Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Survivors of the Sewol Ferry Disaster: A 1-year Longitudinal Study.

Objective: The pathology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with changes in brain structure and function, especially in the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and insula. Survivors of tragic accidents often experience psychological stress and develop post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), regardless of the diagnosis of PTSD. This study aimed to evaluate electroencephalographic changes according to PTSS in victims of a single traumatic event.

Graph theory approach for the structural-functional brain connectome of depression.

To decipher the organizational styles of neural underpinning in major depressive disorder (MDD), the current article reviewed recent neuroimaging studies (published during 2015-2020) that applied graph theory approach to the diffusion tensor imaging data or functional brain activation data acquired during task-free resting state. The global network organization of resting-state functional connectivity network in MDD were diverse according to the onset age and medication status. Intra-modular functional connections were weaker in MDD compared to healthy controls (HC) for default mode and limbic networks.