SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2021
An integrated meta-analysis of peripheral blood metabolites and biological functions in major depressive disorder.
Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 126 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
126 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 225 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lipidomics and genomics in mental health: insights into major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Pooled it
- Do Healthy Dietary Interventions Improve Pediatric Depressive Symptoms? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Pooled it
- The kynurenine pathway in major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of 101 studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Kynurenine metabolites unchanged after multinutrient supplementation in children with ADHD: a secondary data analysis from the MADDY study.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Trial
- The Association of Free Fatty Acids and Eicosanoids with the Severity of Depressive Symptoms in Stroke Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Trial
- Electroconvulsive Treatment for Depression Alters Mitochondrial Serum Metabolites.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Article
- Aspirin alleviates long-term high-fat diet-induced depressive-like behavior in male mice via suppressing arachidonic acid-mediated microglial activation and neuroinflammation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Immune-metabolic mediation of depression risk: Causal evidence from antibody and metabolite GWAS.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mendelian-Randomization Study Reveals Causal Relationships Between Blood Metabolites and Psychiatric Disorders.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Article
- Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and incident depression: an exploratory multi-omics analysis of candidate biological mediators.Nutrition journal · 2026Article
- A Chrono-Metabolic Approach to Mental Health: Current Perspectives on Circadian Rhythms, Gut Microbiota, and Microbial Metabolites in Mood Disorders.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation From Patients With Social Anxiety Disorder Is Associated With General Anxiety-Like Behavior and Gut Microbiota Alterations in Mice.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Elucidating Immune Cell Mediated Causal Pathways Linking Blood Metabolites to Major Depressive Disorder: A Mediation Mendelian Randomization Analysis.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Uncovering the metabolomic signatures in adolescent depression using a targeted metabolomics approach.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Metabolomic Profiling of Extracellular Vesicles Reveals Distinct Metabolic Dysregulation and Treatment-Specific Signatures in Depression.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- A personalised nutrition intervention for adolescent depression: a mixed-methods feasibility pilot study.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Microbiota-metabolome interplay in depression: Metabolic insights and diagnostic potential.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Insights into the interplay between stroke and depression through lipid metabolism-related diagnostic genes.Molecular brain · 2026Article
- Metabolic profiling in major depressive disorder with high psychological resilience: changes in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
66 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental illness, characterized by high morbidity, which has increased in recent decades. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying MDD remain unclear. Previous studies have identified altered metabolic profiles in peripheral tissues associated with MDD. Using curated metabolic characterization data from a large sample of MDD patients, we meta-analyzed the results of metabolites in peripheral blood. Pathway and network analyses were then performed to elucidate the biological themes within these altered metabolites. We identified 23 differentially expressed metabolites between MDD patients and controls from 46 studies. MDD patients were characterized by higher levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine, tyramine, 2-hydroxybutyric acid, phosphatidylcholine (32:1), and taurochenodesoxycholic acid and lower levels of L-acetylcarnitine, creatinine, L-asparagine, L-glutamine, linoleic acid, pyruvic acid, palmitoleic acid, L-serine, oleic acid, myo-inositol, dodecanoic acid, L-methionine, hypoxanthine, palmitic acid, L-tryptophan, kynurenic acid, taurine, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D compared with controls. L-tryptophan and kynurenic acid were consistently downregulated in MDD patients, regardless of antidepressant exposure. Depression rating scores were negatively associated with decreased levels of L-tryptophan. Pathway and network analyses revealed altered amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism, especially for the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway and fatty acid metabolism, in the peripheral system of MDD patients. Taken together, our integrated results revealed that metabolic changes in the peripheral blood were associated with MDD, particularly decreased L-tryptophan and kynurenic acid levels, and alterations in the tryptophan-kynurenine and fatty acid metabolism pathways. Our findings may facilitate biomarker development and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that underly MDD.
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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.