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Major depressive disorder affects 16.1 million adults in the United States and costs $210 billion annually. While the primary symptoms of depression are psychological, scientists and doctors have come to understand that depression is a complex disease with physical effects throughout the body. For example, measuring markers of cellular metabolism has become an important approach to studying mental illnesses and developing new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent them.

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have now advanced this line of work in a new study, revealing a connection between cellular metabolism and depression. They found that people with depression and suicidal ideation had detectable compounds in their blood that could help identify individuals at higher risk of becoming suicidal. The researchers also found sex-based differences in how depression impacts cell metabolism.

The findings, published in Translational Psychiatry, could help personalize mental health care and potentially identify new targets for future drugs