A review on diagnostic proteomics of depression

Depression is a common and severe mental disorder, which can cause a considerable degree of disability to the individual and society [1]. The molecular mechanisms of depression are poorly understood even though many studies have been attempted. Moreover, there are currently no distinctive biological markers to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of depression [2]. The diagnosis, evaluation of medication effects, and prediction of relapse are carried out completely by clinical judgments based on the phenomenology of the disease [1]. The first step requires identifying the molecular pathway for depression. Genomic approaches have attempted to find the underlying molecular pathways, but have not successfully identified the major genes for depression [3]. This may be because there are multiple genes working together or interacting with the environment in a very complex way [1-3].