Pretreatment metabotype as a predictor of response to sertraline or placebo in depressed outpatients: a proof of concept

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the baseline metabolic profile (that is, metabotype) of a patient with major depressive disorder (MDD) would define how an individual will respond to treatment. Outpatients with MDD were randomly assigned to sertraline (up to 150 mg per day) (N=43) or placebo (N=46) in a double-blind 4-week trial. Baseline serum samples were profiled using the liquid chromatography electrochemical array; the output was digitized to create a ‘digital map' of the entire measurable response for a particular sample. Response was defined as ⩾50% reduction baseline to week 4 in the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score. Models were built using the one-out method for cross-validation. Multivariate analyses showed that metabolic profiles partially separated responders and non-responders to sertraline or to placebo. For the sertraline models, the overall correct classification rate was 81% whereas it was 72% for the placebo models. Several pathways were implicated in separation of responders and non-responders on sertraline and on placebo including phenylalanine, tryptophan, purine and tocopherol. Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, tocopherols and serotonin were common metabolites in separating responders and non-responders to both drug and placebo. Pretreatment metabotypes may predict which depressed patients will respond to acute treatment (4 weeks) with sertraline or placebo. Some pathways were informative for both treatments whereas other pathways were unique in predicting response to either sertraline or placebo. Metabolomics may inform the biochemical basis for the early efficacy of sertraline

Pharmacometabolomics of Response to Sertraline and to Placebo in Major Depressive Disorder - Possible Role for Methoxyindole Pathway

10.1371/journal.pone.0068283PLoS ONE87-POLN

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Migrant Women Workers in China

China attracts many foreign firms to open up factories along their coasts because of their lax worker protection laws and their abundant source of cheap labor. But who are these people who toil for twelve hours a day to make our toys, garments, or other cheap plastic materials? Economic opportunities have long drawn poor peasants from the countryside to take up factory jobs because these peasants can earn dramatically more than they could by staying in the village. Women especially have become the majority of migrant workers because of the factories preference for women workers. Migrant women also want to contribute economically to the household, but often lack the education or experience to find a better job. According to the Chinese census in 2000, 60% of the ten million migrant workers in the industrial stronghold of Guangdong were women. But because of institutional and societal values, these women are often exploited and put in great danger just to create cheap products for export. In order for policy makers and NGOs to develop policies and programs that can help these women, it is important to see how all these institutions and cultural mindsets are intertwined to create these situations

Migrant Women Workers in China

China attracts many foreign firms to open up factories along their coasts because of their lax worker protection laws and their abundant source of cheap labor. But who are these people who toil for twelve hours a day to make our toys, garments, or other cheap plastic materials? Economic opportunities have long drawn poor peasants from the countryside to take up factory jobs because these peasants can earn dramatically more than they could by staying in the village. Women especially have become the majority of migrant workers because of the factories preference for women workers. Migrant women also want to contribute economically to the household, but often lack the education or experience to find a better job. According to the Chinese census in 2000, 60% of the ten million migrant workers in the industrial stronghold of Guangdong were women. But because of institutional and societal values, these women are often exploited and put in great danger just to create cheap products for export. In order for policy makers and NGOs to develop policies and programs that can help these women, it is important to see how all these institutions and cultural mindsets are intertwined to create these situations

Color atlas of pediatric dermatology

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Color atlas of pediatric dermatology

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