Researchers identify new target for effective treatment of depression

Researchers identify new target for effective treatment of depression
Depressed Girl




Depression is a major mental health disorder plaguing the world over leads to millions of deaths every year. Now, scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a new target for the treatment of depression. The research team led by Prof. Kirill Martemyanov has found a new protein receptor GPR158 which was higher in people with the major depressive disorder.

It is estimated that more than 16 million Americans and more than 10 million Indian are victims of this mental health disorder. On the flip side, the majority of the cases end up in suicides. The current methods of pharmacological treatment (antidepressants) for depression take a month to start working. This warrants the need to develop drugs that work in the majority of the patients and deliver quick effective treatment so that the loss is minimised.

Advertisement

Research study:

 To better understand the role of GPR158 receptor scientists examined both male and female mice with and without the receptor. The team found that the mice that have higher levels of GPR158 receptor displayed signs of depression following chronic stress. On the other hand, suppression of GPR158 receptors protected the mice from developing depressive behaviours. Hence these group of mice are resilient to depression following chronic stress.

Also Read: This new research paves way for effective HIV vaccine

This fasting-mimicking diet reverses diabetes and restores insulin production: Research

 In the next step, researchers analysed the role of GPR158 receptor on depression. The team found that GPR158 receptor affects the key signalling pathways responsible for mood regulation in a part of the brain called prefrontal cortex. However, the exact mechanism by which it is controlled is yet to be established. This study offers potential clues as to why some people are more susceptible to depression compared to others who are resilient to depression. This research further paves the way for the development of drugs targetting the GPR158receptor resulting in rapid and effective control of depression.




The Research study was published in the Journal eLife.

Source

0Shares
, , , , , , , , , , ,

About Sekhar. M

Always on the move with the latest happenings in the field of technology and health. When I am not writing, you can find me listening to the latest chartbusters. Also being a sports geek, I always keep a close eye on all the latest happenings.
View all posts by Sekhar. M →

2 thoughts on “Researchers identify new target for effective treatment of depression

  1. I must show my thanks to the writer just for rescuing me from such a crisis. Just after looking out throughout the world wide web and getting ideas which are not productive, I figured my life was done. Being alive devoid of the solutions to the difficulties you’ve fixed by means of this short article is a serious case, as well as the ones that would have in a negative way damaged my entire career if I had not noticed your web site. The skills and kindness in controlling the whole thing was helpful. I don’t know what I would have done if I had not discovered such a thing like this. I’m able to at this moment look ahead to my future. Thanks for your time so much for the professional and sensible guide. I won’t hesitate to suggest the sites to any person who desires guide about this issue.

  2. I happen to be commenting to make you understand of the cool encounter my cousin’s daughter found going through yuor web blog. She mastered plenty of issues, which included what it’s like to have an excellent helping character to get the rest clearly grasp several multifaceted subject areas. You really surpassed our own desires. Thanks for distributing those interesting, safe, explanatory and also cool tips on your topic to Emily.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *