Longitudinal monitoring of the serotonin transporter gene expression to assess major depressive episode evolution

Mood disorders are frequently characterized by uncertain prognosis and studying mRNA expression variations in blood cells represents a promising avenue of identifying biomarkers for mood disorders. State-dependent gene expression variations have been described during a major depressive episode (MDE), in particular for SLC6A4 mRNA, but how this transcript varies in relation to MDE evolution remains unclear. In this study, we prospectively assessed time trends of SCL6A4 mRNA expression in responder and nonresponder patients.

We examined SLC6A4 mRNA expression in blood samples from 13 patients treated for severe MDE and their matched controls by reverse transcription and quantitative PCR. All subjects were followed for 30 weeks. Patients were classified as either responders or nonresponders based on improvement of depression according to the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Using a longitudinal design, we ascertained mRNA expression at baseline, 2, 8, and 30 weeks and compared mRNA expression between responder and nonresponder patients, and matched controls.

We observed a decrease of SLC6A4 mRNA expression in responder patients across a 30-week follow-up, while nonresponder patients exhibited up-regulated SLC6A4 mRNA.

Peripheral SLC6A4 mRNA expression could serve as a biomarker for monitoring and follow-up during an MDE and may help to more appropriately select individualized treatments.