A Blood Test for Depression?

Depressive disorders: Processes leading to neurogeneration and potential novel treatments

“…Despite the lack of diagnostic biological markers, biological findings are frequently reported that are not yet accepted as diagnostic (Bilello et al, 2015;Rothschild, 2015). Several of these are found in MDD and in bipolar disorder and may cause or aggravate cognitive problems which in some cases could lead to neurodegeneration.…”

“…In 1982 Carrol reported on abnormalities in the dexamethasone suppression test ( DST) in MDD speculating that it might be a diagnostic test (Carroll, A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T 1982), however numerous factors severely restrict its specificity (Herbert, 2013). Serum cortisol levels, after correcting for time of day, are one part of a nine component test that has been proposed as a diagnostic procedure (Bilello et al, 2015;Papakostas et al, 2015), however it has been questioned whether in its current form it would add any value to the diagnosis of a trained physician (Rothschild, 2015). Recently attention has been focused on the cortisol awakening response, a rise in cortisol that occurs 30 minutes after waking (Elder et al, 2014).…”