title: Circulating Plasma Micro RNAs in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Treated with Antidepressants: A Pilot Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Significant progress was made in the understanding etiopathogenic factors related to MDD, including through research on the role of micro RNAs (miRs). We investigated plasma miRs as potential markers for MDD in patients treated with antidepressants.
  
  
  METHODS
  At the initiation and at the end of twelve weeks of treatment, blood samples were collected and a structured diagnostic interview and a standardized depression rating scale for the presence and severity of major depression were done. The average decrease in HAMD score was 76.89%. Plasma miR expression profiling was performed by real time PCR. The lists of up-regulated (cut-off=2) and down-regulated miRs were imported into the miRWalk2.0 algorithm and used for target predictions. KEGG database pathways analysis was used to retrieve the pathways significantly targeted by at least two of the miRs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 222 miRs detected in plasma samples of MDD patients, 40 were differentially expressed after treatment. Twenty-three miRs were significantly overexpressed with fold changes between 1.85 and 25.42, and 17 miRs were significantly downregulated with fold changes from 0.28 to 0.68. Pathway analysis revealed a list of 29 pathways for up-regulated miRs, and 20 pathways for down-regulated miRs. Six dysregulated miRs are common to all the top five pathways (Wnt signaling, Cancer, Endocytosis, Axon guidance, MAPK signaling): miR-146a-5p, miR-146b-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-24-3p, miR-26a-5p.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, our miRWalk analysis of changes in plasma microRNAs after treatment of patients with major depression might open a new avenue for the understanding of Escitalopram mode of action and for its side effects.
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Discipline of Psychiatry, Timisoara, Romania.; Eduard Pamfil Psychiatry Clinic, Timisoara County Hospital, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Virgil Radu
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Enatescu
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Discipline of Psychiatry, Timisoara, Romania.; Eduard Pamfil Psychiatry Clinic, Timisoara County Hospital, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Ion
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Papava
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Neonatology and Puericulture, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Ileana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Enatescu
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Biochemistry, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Mirela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antonescu
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Biochemistry, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anghel
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Biochemistry, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seclaman
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Biochemistry, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Ioan Ovidiu
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Sirbu
authors.affiliation: Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara-Department of Biochemistry, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Catalin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marian
keywords: Antidepressants; Major depressive disorder; micro RNA