Kaustubh Jadhav: Blood Cytokines and Major Depressive Disorder in Adolescents

Depression may often be thought of as a purely emotional or psychological struggle, but what if biological processes also play a crucial role? In recent years, research has pointed to the correlation between inflammation, particularly cytokines, and major depressive disorder (MDD). While many studies have explored this correlation in adults, very few studies are focused on adolescents.

Our latest study dives into this very question: Could alterations in cytokines, in the blood, provide insights into adolescent depression before consuming medication? We examined cytokines, proteins that regulate inflammation, to determine whether they show significant differences in drug-naïve (medication-free) adolescents with MDD compared to their healthy peers.

Why Focus on Adolescents?

Adolescence is a period of rapid biological and psychological changes. It is during this time that many individuals often experience their first depressive episode. Understanding the biological underpinnings of MDD in this age group is essential, not only for early diagnosis but also for developing more targeted treatments.

One challenge in studying inflammation and depression is that many individuals with MDD are already on medication, which can alter immune responses. To address this, we focused on drug-naïve adolescents, ensuring that our findings reflect the natural state of inflammation in MDD.

What Did We Find?

One finding stood out: Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α, a key inflammatory cytokine, was significantly elevated in adolescents with MDD. This suggests that cytokine alterations, particularly TNF-α, could be a noteworthy observation in adolescents with MDD. Interestingly, other cytokines did not show significant differences.

What Does This Mean?

Our results highlight TNF-α as an important cytokine for MDD in adolescents. However, this is just one piece of the puzzle. Depression is complex, and factors such as environment and stress, along with other comorbidities, all play a role. Future research needs to explore how TNF-α interacts with other biological and psychological factors and whether targeting inflammation could be a viable avenue for diagnosis and treatment.

Dive deeper into this conversation by exploring our recent meta-analysis:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032724019621  

Kaustubh Jadhav works as a Doctoral Researcher in the Neuro-Innovation PhD programme. His research focuses on biomarkers for mental health dysfunction in adolescents.