Adult stem cell study shows fish oil may help with depression

Researchers use stem cells from adults with depression to test treatments

June 11, 2020

Science Daily/University of Illinois at Chicago

A study published in Molecular Psychiatry shows that patient-derived adult stem cells can be used to model major depressive disorder and test how a patient may respond to medication.

Using stem cells from adults with a clinical diagnosis of depression, the University of Illinois at Chicago researchers who conducted the study also found that fish oil, when tested in the model, created an antidepressant response.

UIC's Mark Rasenick, principal investigator of the study, says that the research provides a number of novel findings that can help scientists better understand how the brain works and why some people respond to drug treatment for depression, while others experience limited benefits from antidepressant medication.

"It was also exciting to find scientific evidence that fish oil -- an easy-to-get, natural product -- may be an effective treatment for depression," said Rasenick, UIC distinguished professor of physiology and biophysics and psychiatry at the College of Medicine.

Major depressive disorder, or depression, is the most common psychiatric disorder. Around one in six individuals will experience at least one depressive episode in their lifetime. However, antidepressant treatment fails in about one-third of patients.

In the study, the UIC researchers used skin cells from adults with depression that were converted into stem cells at Massachusetts General Hospital and then directed those stem cells to develop into nerve cells. The skin biopsies were taken from two types of patients: people who previously responded to antidepressant treatment and people who have previously been resistant to antidepressants.

When fish oil was tested, the models from treatment-sensitive and treatment-resistant patients both responded.

Rasenick says the response was similar to that seen from prescription antidepressants, but it was produced through a different mechanism.

"We saw that fish oil was acting, in part, on glial cells, not neurons," said Rasenick, who is also a research career scientist at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and president and chief scientific officer at Pax Neuroscience, a UIC startup company. "For many years, scientists have paid scant attention to glia -- a type of brain cell that surrounds neurons -- but there is increasing evidence that glia may play a role in depression. Our study suggests that glia may also be important for antidepressant action.

"Our study also showed that a stem cell model can be used to study response to treatment and that fish oil as a treatment, or companion to treatment, for depression warrants further investigation," Rasenick said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611143054.htm

Increased risk of depression for mothers undergoing fertility treatment

Science Daily/August 18, 2015

University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Women giving birth after undergoing fertility treatment face an increased risk of depression compared to women ending up not having a child following fertility treatment, according to new research. According to the researchers, this has key implications for fertility treatment in future.

Danish researchers are among the first worldwide to study the risk of developing a clinical depression for women undergoing fertility treatment. The new study shows that women who give birth after receiving fertility treatment are five times more likely to develop depression compared to women who don't give birth.

"The new results are surprising because we had assumed it was actually quite the opposite. However, our study clearly shows that women who become mothers following fertility treatment have an increased risk of developing depression in the first six weeks after birth compared to women who did not have a child. Our study has not looked at why the depression occurs, but other studies indicate that it could be caused by hormonal changes or mental factors, but we cannot say for sure. We did not find any correlation between the number of fertility treatments and the subsequent risk of depression," says one of the driving forces behind the study, Camilla Sandal Sejbaek, PhD, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.

Important findings for future treatment

The new research is based on data from 41,000 Danish women who have undergone fertility treatment in which an egg is removed from the body and fertilised in a laboratory. The study is based on unique register information from fertility clinics in Denmark.

"Infertility affects one in four to six couples who are trying to conceive, and our research sheds light on a little-known field. By focusing on the link between having a child after undergoing fertility treatment and the risk of depression, our research can give professionals useful tools in the form of advice and how to handle a pregnancy before and after birth. In addition, the findings are important in relation to couples who are thinking about starting fertility treatment. "It can be a tough process, and our findings show there is not a greater risk of depression if the treatment is unsuccessful," says Associate Professor Lone Schmidt, MD, DMSci, PhD from the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150818120551.htm