Can biomarkers be used to diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Hui Chen; Yang Yang; Diana Odisho; Siqi Wu; Chenju Yi; Brian G Oliver

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1026616

Can biomarkers be used to diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 8:14:1026616. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1026616. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hui Chen^{1

2}, Yang Yang³, Diana Odisho², Siqi Wu³, Chenju Yi^{1

3

4}, Brian G Oliver^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China.
² School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia.
³ Research Centre, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Active Substance Screening and Translational Research, Shenzhen, China.
⁵ Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Glebe, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Currently, the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is solely based on behavioral tests prescribed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5). However, biomarkers can be more objective and accurate for diagnosis and evaluating treatment efficacy. Thus, this review aimed to identify potential biomarkers for ADHD. Search terms "ADHD," and "biomarker" combined with one of "protein," "blood/serum," "gene," and "neuro" were used to identify human and animal studies in PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Web of Science. Only papers in English were included. Potential biomarkers were categorized into radiographic, molecular, physiologic, or histologic markers. The radiographic analysis can identify specific activity changes in several brain regions in individuals with ADHD. Several molecular biomarkers in peripheral blood cells and some physiologic biomarkers were found in a small number of participants. There were no published histologic biomarkers for ADHD. Overall, most associations between ADHD and potential biomarkers were properly controlled. In conclusion, a series of biomarkers in the literature are promising as objective parameters to more accurately diagnose ADHD, especially in those with comorbidities that prevent the use of DSM-5. However, more research is needed to confirm the reliability of the biomarkers in larger cohort studies.

Keywords: ADHD; behavioral; biomarkers; diagnosis; neuroscience.

Publication types

Review