Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42377483›Full record

ArticleEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2026

Esketamine multi-omic biomarker evaluation in major depressive disorder (EMBER-MDD): concept, objectives and methodologies of a non-clinical investigator-initiated study.

C Hohoff, T Lange, L Steinbach, S M Wissing, E Van Assche, B T Baune

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

C HohoffDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3012-4840
T LangeDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-0939-8062
L SteinbachDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-7635-6217
S M WissingDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-3123-2233
E Van AsscheDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3472-3031
B T BauneDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany. bernhard.baune@uni-muenster.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6548-426X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Treatment resistance (TR) in major depressive disorder (MDD) affects a substantial minority of patients and is hard to recognize early, delaying intensified care. The Esketamine multi-omic biomarker evaluation in MDD (EMBER-MDD) is a non-interventional, investigator-initiated, in-vitro study within the EU Psych-STRATA programme, analyzing biospecimens collected in the randomized INTENSIFY study and the mirror OBS-TR cohort after participants complete treatment. EMBER-MDD aims to discover individual-omic and integrated multi-omic (hypothesis-free) biomarkers and signatures associated with TR risk, and molecular correlates of clinical response to esketamine nasal spray versus treatment as usual (TAU). Biomaterials will derive from approximately 420 adults with MDD (estimated n = 210 esketamine; n = 210 TAU) and include whole blood, RNA-stabilized whole blood, plasma and serum, sampled at baseline and, when feasible, during and after treatment (up to ~ 5,040 aliquots stored at - 80 °C). Genomics will use baseline DNA genotyping on Illumina Infinium GSA v3.0+MD arrays; epigenomics will profile genome-wide DNA methylation across time points using MethylationEPIC v2.0; transcriptomics will employ mRNA-seq (NovaSeq X/ X Plus); and proteomics/ metabolomics will be generated using high-throughput Olink and/ or Biocrates platforms. Each layer will undergo state-of-the-art preprocessing and analyses (e.g., GWAS/ PRS, EWAS, differential expression, WGCNA, pathway and network analyses), followed by integrative strategies including QTL mapping (meQTL/ eQTL/ pQTL/ mQTL) and intermediate-fusion machine learning with nested cross-validation, explainable AI (SHAP/ LIME) and treatment-effect modelling. All outputs are research-only and will not support individual efficacy, tolerability, or clinical decision-making. The study will deliver robust biosignatures and mechanistic hypotheses to guide future validation and inform stratified, molecularly guided intervention strategies in subsequent prospective trials. Trial registration number: 2023-506617-21-00 and 2025-178-f-S.

Indexed as

Antidepressive AgentsDepressive Disorder, Treatment-ResistantKetamineMajor Depressive DisorderAdultBiomarkersHumansMultiomicsResearch DesignAntidepressive AgentsBiomarkersEsketamineKetamineDepressionEsketamineIntegrative multi-omicsMolecular omicsTreatment resistance

Identifiers

PMID42377483
PMCPMC13562347

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.