Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2012
Resting leukocyte telomerase activity is elevated in major depression and predicts treatment response.
Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of telomere length and telomerase activity in accelerated cellular aging and major depressive disorder: a systematic review.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Peripheral blood telomerase activity and telomerase reverse transcriptase gene expression in psychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Pooled it
- The Potential Use of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells as Biomarkers for Treatment Response and Outcome Prediction in Psychiatry: A Systematic Review.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association of Molecular Senescence Markers in Late-Life Depression With Clinical Characteristics and Treatment Outcome.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- PBMC telomerase activity in depression and the response to electroconvulsive therapy.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021Trial
- Improvement in indices of cellular protection after psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2019Trial
- Circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA, but not leukocyte mitochondrial DNA copy number, is elevated in major depressive disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Telomere length as a predictor of response to Pioglitazone in patients with unremitted depression: a preliminary study.Translational psychiatry · 2016Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of qigong exercise on fatigue symptoms, functioning, and telomerase activity in persons with chronic fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2012Trial
- Increased telomerase activity and vitamin D supplementation in overweight African Americans.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2012Trial
- Article
- Telomere Dynamics in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Critical Synthesis.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- The relationship between mitochondrial health, telomerase activity and longitudinal telomere attrition, considering the role of chronic stress.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- The researcher's guide to selecting biomarkers in mental health studies.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Accelerated epigenetic aging and decreased natural killer cells based on DNA methylation in patients with untreated major depressive disorder.npj aging · 2023Article
- Strong associations of telomere length and mitochondrial copy number with suicidality and abuse history in adolescent depressed individuals.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Article
- Shorter telomere length predicts poor antidepressant response and poorer cardiometabolic indices in major depression.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantitation Identification of Blood Proteins Relevant to Paroxetine Response in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Increased telomerase activity in major depressive disorder with melancholic features: Possible role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes that cap linear DNA strands, protecting DNA from damage. When telomeres critically shorten, cells become susceptible to senescence and apoptosis. Telomerase, a cellular ribonucleoprotein enzyme, rebuilds the length of telomeres and promotes cellular viability. Leukocyte telomeres are reportedly shortened in major depression, but telomerase activity in depression has not been previously reported. Further, there are no published reports of the effects of antidepressants on telomerase activity or on the relationship between telomerase activity and antidepressant response. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) telomerase activity was assessed in 20 medication-free depressed individuals and 18 controls. In total, 16 of the depressed individuals were then treated with sertraline in an open-label manner for 8 weeks, and PBMC telomerase activity was reassessed in 15 of these individuals after treatment. Pre- and post-treatment symptom severity was rated with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. All analyses were corrected for age and sex. Pre-treatment telomerase activity was significantly elevated in the depressed individuals compared with the controls (P=0.007) and was directly correlated with depression ratings (P<0.05) across all subjects. In the depressed group, individuals with relatively lower pre-treatment telomerase activity and with relatively greater increase in telomerase activity during treatment, showed superior antidepressant responses (P<0.05 and P<0.005, respectively). This is the first report characterizing telomerase activity in depressed individuals. PBMC telomerase activity might reflect a novel aspect of depressive pathophysiology and might represent a novel biomarker of antidepressant responsiveness.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.