Researchers have developed a blood test to determine a person’s risk of developing anxiety while providing insight into current severity and the best course of treatment.
The test, which is based on biomarkers strongly associated with the mood disorder, can also predict whether a person is likely to become more anxious in the future and how other things, like hormone changes, might affect their anxiety.
And now that the team, led by researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine, has validated the test, the startup is taking off MindX Sciences already creates the blood tests that doctors can use.
“Many people suffer from anxiety, which can be very disabling and interfere with daily life,” says psychiatric neuroscientist Alexander Niculescu of the Indiana University School of Medicine.
“[H]Having something objective like this, where we know a person’s current condition, their future risk and what treatment options fit their profile, is very powerful in helping people.”
This recent study used techniques that members of the team had developed in previous research, leading to the development of blood tests depression, post-traumatic stress disorderR, bipolar disorderAnd pain.
Testing blood samples is a convenient, objective way to learn what’s going on inside ours Body And brains. Diagnoses that rely heavily on self-report or observational behavior may be challenged by communication difficulties or differing symptoms. By measuring the levels of a protein, enzyme, hormone or other molecule strongly associated with a disease, specialists have another tool to make an informed decision.
To identify appropriate anxiety biomarkers, Niculescu and his colleagues recruited patients at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center and assigned them to one of three groups.
The first group, called the biomarker discovery group, consisted of 58 people (41 men and 17 women) whose anxiety levels changed at least once from one visit to the next. This group allowed the team to look for possible biomarkers that might be associated with changes in anxiety.
The top biomarker candidates found in this “discovery group” were tested on a second group of volunteers consisting of 40 people (32 males and 8 females). This group was called the Biomarker Validation Group. This validation process was important to ensure that the biomarkers could reliably and accurately predict changes in anxiety.
The validated biomarkers were used in biomarker tests to predict high anxiety and clinically severe anxiety in a third group. This biomarker panel consisted of 161 males and 36 females predicting high anxiety and 159 males and 36 females predicting clinically severe anxiety.
Ultimately, using the evidence from all three groups, the researchers found and confirmed 19 blood biomarkers that can be used to predict changes in anxiety.
anxiety disorders are togetherand significantly affect people’s quality of life, so it is important to try to better understand, diagnose and treat them.
There are a variety of Social And psychologicallyand physiological therapies for anxiety disorders, but it is difficult for physicians to find the balance of drugs or therapies in the right amounts and at the right time.
“The current approach is to talk to people about how they’re feeling to see if they could take medication, but some drugs can be addictive and cause more problems.” says niculescu
“We wanted to see if our approach to identifying blood biomarkers could help us match people with existing drugs that might work better and be non-addictive choices.”
If doctors can identify specific biomarkers that predict risk of future anxiety disorders, they may be able to begin preventing anxiety disorders before they start or return.
“There are people who are scared and it’s not properly diagnosed, then they have panic attacks but they think they’re having a heart attack and they end up in the emergency room with all sorts of physical symptoms,” Niculescu said adds.
“If we know that sooner, hopefully we can avoid that pain and suffering and treat her sooner with something that fits her profile.”
Important that researchers closeThe fact that not all patients respond to current treatments underscores the importance of continuing to do research to find new and better treatments.
So they hope the new blood biomarker tests can be used to match patients with the right drugs, measure how well a treatment is working and find new uses for old drugs.
“This could be a panel test as part of a patient’s regular wellness visits to assess their mental health over time and help prevent future stress,” Niculescu said hopes.
“Prevention is better in the long run.”
The research was published in Molecular Psychiatry.
