ArticleScientific reports2020
Kynurenic acid is a potential overlapped biomarker between diagnosis and treatment response for depression from metabolome analysis.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Effects on Biomarkers of Tryptophan Metabolism: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Dietary Tryptophan Allocation in Depression: Serotonin-Kynurenine Balance, Microbial Indole Pathways, and Inflammatory Phenotypes.Nutrients · 2026Review
- [Psychotropic drug research in Germany: challenges of early benefit assessment and precision psychiatry].Der Nervenarzt · 2026Review
- Sex-specific microbial and tryptophan signatures of depression implicate archaeal methanogens and indole-3-acetic acid only in women.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Linking Obesity and Depression Through the Gut-Brain Axis: The Impact of Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Inflammation.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Kynurenine pathway dysregulation in major depressive disorder: the convergence of excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- Contextual Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway and Its Relevance for Personalized Psychiatry.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Blood-Based Metabolomic Biomarkers and Personality Traits in Major Depressive Disorder: Toward an Integrated Framework for Precision Psychiatry.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites as Mediators of Exercise-Induced Mood Enhancement, Fatigue Resistance, and Neuroprotection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Application of Treatment Response Biomarkers from Major Depression to Perinatal Depression.Journal of personalized medicine · 2025Review
- Review
- Moving toward precision and personalized treatment strategies in psychiatry.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Sensitive Detection of Kynurenic Acid from Biological Fluids Using a Flexible Electrochemical Platform Based on Gold Nanoparticles and Reduced Graphene Oxide.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Treatment-resistant depression: molecular mechanisms and management.Molecular biomedicine · 2024Review
- The association between salivary IL-6 and poor sleep quality assessed using Apple watches in stressed workers in Japan.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Biology and Biochemistry of Kynurenic Acid, a Potential Nutraceutical with Multiple Biological Effects.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- From orphan to oncogene: The role of GPR35 in cancer and immune modulation.Cytokine & growth factor reviews · 2024Review
- Mind, Mood and Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis in Psychiatric Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Non-Targeted Metabolomics Investigation of a Sub-Chronic Variable Stress Model Unveils Sex-Dependent Metabolic Differences Induced by Stress.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Sex- and suicide-specific alterations in the kynurenine pathway in the anterior cingulate cortex in major depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since optimal treatment at an early stage leads to remission of symptoms and recovery of function, putative biomarkers leading to early diagnosis and prediction of therapeutic responses are desired. The current study aimed to use a metabolomic approach to extract metabolites involved in both the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) and the prediction of therapeutic response for escitalopram. We compared plasma metabolites of MDD patients (n = 88) with those in healthy participants (n = 88) and found significant differences in the concentrations of 20 metabolites. We measured the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) on 62 patients who completed approximately six-week treatment with escitalopram before and after treatment and found that kynurenic acid and kynurenine were significantly and negatively associated with HRSD reduction. Only one metabolite, kynurenic acid, was detected among 73 metabolites for overlapped biomarkers. Kynurenic acid was lower in MDD, and lower levels showed a better therapeutic response to escitalopram. Kynurenic acid is a metabolite in the kynurenine pathway that has been widely accepted as being a major mechanism in MDD. Overlapping biomarkers that facilitate diagnosis and prediction of the treatment response may help to improve disease classification and reduce the exposure of patients to less effective treatments in MDD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.