Dr. Jinying Zhao and Guanhong Miao publish in Molecular Psychiatry

Jinying Zhao, MD, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology, and post-doctoral student, Guanhong Miao, published their study, “Plasma Lipidomic Profile of Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Study in a Large Sample of Community-dwelling American Indians in the Strong Heart Study,” in the Journal of Molecular Psychiatry.

Using a new technology called lipidomics, this study examined whether abnormal levels of blood lipids can explain the high risk of depression in a large prospective cohort of American Indians.

They found that baseline levels of multiple lipid species can predict the onset of depression and track its progression over time. These findings provide novel insight into the mechanism through which abnormal blood lipids can affect depression and offer opportunities for targeting lipid metabolism to diagnose, prevent or treat mood disorders.