London - A new blood test could be a first step towards personalised treatment for depression, say scientists.
The test accurately predicts whether or not patients will respond to common antidepressant drugs. Around half of people with depression are not helped by “first-line” antidepressants and a third are resistant to all available drug treatments.
Until now there has been no way of knowing in advance which patients will need more aggressive treatment, which might involve a combination of different drugs.
Instead, most treatment for depression is conducted on a trial and error basis.
The new test measures two inflammation biomarkers in the blood shown in previous studies to be linked to a poor response to antidepressants.
Scientists found that patients with levels of both biomarkers above a certain threshold were 100 percent certain not to respond to conventional, commonly prescribed drugs.
Those with inflammation markers below the threshold could be expected to respond to first-line antidepressants.
The Independent