Blood and urinary metabolomic evidence validating traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic classification of major depressive disorder

Lan-Ying Liu; Hong-Jian Zhang; Li-Yuan Luo; Jin-Bao Pu; Wei-Qing Liang; Chun-Qin Zhu; Ya-Ping Li; Pei-Rong Wang; Yuan-Yuan Zhang; Chun-Yu Yang; Zhang-Jin Zhang

doi:10.1186/s13020-018-0211-z

Blood and urinary metabolomic evidence validating traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic classification of major depressive disorder

Chin Med. 2018 Oct 25:13:53. doi: 10.1186/s13020-018-0211-z. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Psychiatry, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310012 Zhejiang China.
² 2Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hangzhou, 310007 Zhejiang China.
³ 3Department of Internal Chinese Medicine, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310012 Zhejiang China.
⁴ 4School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly heterogeneous disease. Further classification may characterize its heterogeneity. The purpose of this study was to examine whether metabolomic variables could differentiate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnostic subtypes of MDD.

Methods: Fifty medication-free patients who were experiencing a recurrent depressive episode were classified into Liver Qi Stagnation (LQS, n = 30) and Heart and Spleen Deficiency (HSD, n = 20) subtypes according to TCM diagnosis. Healthy volunteers (n = 28) were included as controls. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to examine serum and urinary metabolomic profiles.

Results: Twenty-eight metabolites were identified for good separations between TCM subtypes and healthy controls in serum samples. Both TCM subtypes had similar profiles in proteinogenic branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) (valine, leucine, and isoleucine) and energy metabolism-related metabolites that were differentiated from healthy controls. The LQS subtype additionally differed from healthy controls in multiple amino acid metabolites that are involved in biosynthesis of monoamine and amino acid neurotransmitters, including phenylalanine, 3-hydroxybutric acid, o-tyrosine, glycine, l-tryptophan, and N-acetyl-l-aspartic acid. Threonic acid, methionine, stearic acid, and isobutyric acid are differentially associated with the two subtypes.

Conclusions: While both TCM subtypes are associated with aberrant BCAA and energy metabolism, the LQS subtype may represent an MDD subpopulation characterized by abnormalities in the biosynthesis of monoamine and amino acid neurotransmitters and closer associations with stress-related pathophysiology. The metabolites differentially associated with the two subtypes are promising biomarkers for predicting TCM subtype-specific antidepressant response [registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02346682) on January 27, 2015].

Keywords: Classification; Major depressive disorder; Metabolomics; Traditional Chinese medicine.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02346682