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BIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR MENTAL ILLNESS
0 Comments / Jun 30, 2015

Psychiatry

Reliable indicators are of great help in the diagnosis of any disease. This fact assumes more importance in the diagnosis of mental illness because a clinician has to depend on interpretation of clues discernible from a patient’s behaviour, including emotional outbursts. Fortunately, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are reported to have identified, for the first time, a biological marker. Their study has been published in the journal EBioMedicine.



Researchers know that the XIST gene works overtime in female patients with mental illness. They also know that this gene inactivates one of the two copies of the X chromosome in cells that store genetic material. Keeping all this in view, they decided to focus on the identification of biomarkers for mental illness, which would, in turn, facilitate further research paving the way for the development of effective drugs.

The study was led by Xianjin Zhou, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and lead author. They carried out their study on 60 lymphoblastoid cell lines from female patients, most of whom were found with a family history of mental illness.

Results revealed that nearly 50 per cent of the female patients were found to have XIST gene and other genes related to the X chromosome. The team led by Zhou pointed out that a new treatment option for treating mental illness may be to reverse the abnormal activity of the inactive X chromosome in the patients.

The whole team is optimistic about the results, which have revealed the possibility of early diagnosis of mental illness with a simple blood test. Encouraged by the results, they intend to pursue their research, aimed at finding effective treatment options for mental illness.