Biomarkers in Depression (BIODEP) | C4C
This is a study to characterise inflammatory processes in depression. One of our goals is to identify the subset of depressed patients that is likely to respond better anti?-inflammatory drug. We will therefore undertake a study of patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder including four groups: i) treatment resistant patients ii) treatment responders, not currently depressed iii) untreated patients who are currently depressed, iv) healthy volunteers with no history of depression. Participants will undergo a clinical assessment, an interview with a trained research team member and will complete self?rated questionnaires. We will collect blood and saliva samples to measure certain immune markers. We will also perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to look for MRI markers in the brain and investigate brain inflammation in a sub?sample of these patients using positron emission topography (PET) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling (also called lumbar puncture).