Metabolomic signatures associated with depression and predictors of antidepressant response in humans: A CAN-BIND-1 report.

One of the biggest challenges in treating depression is the heterogeneous and qualitative nature of its clinical presentations. This highlights the need to find quantitative molecular markers to tailor existing treatment strategies to the individual's biological system. In this study, high-resolution metabolic phenotyping of urine and plasma samples from the CAN-BIND study collected before treatment with two common pharmacological strategies, escitalopram and aripiprazole, was performed. Here we show that a panel of LDL and HDL subfractions were negatively correlated with depression in males. For treatment response, lower baseline concentrations of apolipoprotein A1 and HDL were predictive of escitalopram response in males, while higher baseline concentrations of apolipoprotein A2, HDL and VLDL subfractions were predictive of aripiprazole response in females. These findings support the potential of metabolomics in precision medicine and the possibility of identifying personalized interventions for depression.

A sensitive and selective magnetic graphene composite-modified polycrystalline-silicon nanowire field-effect transistor for bladder cancer diagnosis.

In this study, we describe the urinary quantification of apolipoprotein A II protein (APOA2 protein), a biomarker for the diagnosis of bladder cancer, using an n-type polycrystalline silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (poly-SiNW-FET). The modification of poly-SiNW-FET by magnetic graphene with long-chain acid groups (MGLA) synthesized via Friedel-Crafts acylation was compared with that obtained using short-chain acid groups (MGSA). Compared with MGSA, the MGLA showed a higher immobilization degree and bioactivity to the anti-APOA2 antibody (Ab) due to its lower steric hindrance. In addition, the magnetic properties enabled rapid separation and purification during Ab immobilization, ultimately preserving its bioactivity. The Ab-MGLA/poly-SiNW-FET exhibited a linear dependence of relative response to the logarithmical concentration in a range between 19.5pgmL(-1) and 1.95µgmL(-1), with a limit of detection (LOD) of 6.7pgmL(-1). An additional washing step before measurement aimed at excluding the interfering biocomponents ensured the reliability of the assay. We conclude that our biosensor efficiently distinguishes mean values of urinary APOA2 protein concentrations between patients with bladder cancer (29-344ngmL(-1)) and those with hernia (0.425-9.47ngmL(-1)).

Changed affinity of apolipoprotein AII to high density lipoprotein (HDL) in patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) type I.

Patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) showed extremely low plasma apolipoprotein AII (apoAII) levels and apolipoprotein AII/AI (apoAII/AI) ratio while plasma levels of AI, B, CII, CIII, and E were all within normal ranges. To elucidate the reason for these phenomena, we investigated the percent of these proteins contained in high density lipoprotein (HDL) extracted from plasma of FAP patients by ultracentrifugation. The apoAII/AI ratio in extracted HDL was much lower in asymptomatic carriers of FAP as well as FAP patients than that in control subjects. Since a significant amount of apoAII as well as apoAI was recognized in the fraction of the density > 1.21 g/ml in the samples from asymptomatic carriers of FAP and FAP patients, decreased apoAII/AI ratio may result from the increased dissociation of apoAII from HDL during the process of the ultracentrifugation. Electrophoresis of HDL extracted by agarose gel revealed that HDL from asymptomatic carriers of FAP as well as FAP patients increased negative charge, suggesting that nature of HDL itself may change in these subjects. Although urinary excretion of apoAII was increased in carriers of FAP and FAP patients, there was no correlation between plasma and urinary apoAII levels and also no relationship between urinary total protein and apoAII levels. These results suggest that changed affinity of apoAII to HDL may cause the increased secretion of apoAII to the urine and the decreased plasma apoAII level in carriers of FAP and FAP patients.

Urinary high density lipoprotein--a possible marker for glomerular proteinuria.

High--resolution two--dimension electrophoresis technique for protein with silver staining was used to characterise urinary high density lipoprotein (HDL)--apolipoproteins. Sequential ultracentrufugation method was used to isolate urinary lipoprotein particles of the same density as serum HDL. Immunostaining of electroblotted proteins further confirmed the presence of HDL--Apos in urine. HDL--Apolipoprotein A--1, A--11 and C were identified in urine of normal subjects, diabetic patients and patients with biopsy proven glomerular proteinuria. An in-house ELISA method was used to quantify urinary HDL--Apo A--1. Selectivity indices were also determined. A high degree of association was found between selectivity index and urinary HDL--Apo A--1 (r = 0.87) and also between HFL--APO A--1 loss/24 h and total protein loss/24 h (r = 0.91). This appear to indicate that HDL loss in urine was a function of glomerular selectivity. Urinary HDL--Apo A--1 levels were significantly raised in the patients with glomerular proteinuria (p less than 0.01). HDL--Apo A--1 levels appear to be a marker for glomerular proteinuria. Consistent with glomerular proteinuria serum lipids and protein loss were significantly higher in patients with glomerular proteinuria (p less than 0.001) but HDL--Cholesterol was lower (p less than 0.001).