In Europe, thanks to the MOODSTRATIFICATION research project, biomarkers have been identified that can improve the diagnosis and treatment of certain mental disorders, such as unipolar depression or bipolar disorder. 12 research teams participated in the project, including the Fondamental Foundation in France, and represent a new paradigm for psychiatry.
By Ivonne Sánchez
MOODSTRATIFICATION is the name of this ambitious mental health project, which brings together 12 research teams from the European Union, including the FondaMental Foundation in France, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, the Aahrus University in Denmark, and the Medical Center Erasmus in Rotterdam, Holland.
The purpose is to identify and validate biological markers that allow us to better diagnose and treat certain mental disorders, such as unipolar depression or bipolar disorder, knowing that in many cases, it takes ten years to make an accurate diagnosis, with clinical observation being the only available tool.
With these new markers, a simple blood sample can provide accurate information about the mental disorder the patient is suffering from.
The MOODSTRATIFICATION project It was conducted by 12 European research institutes from 7 countries: Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, and Israel, and coordinated by Prof. and Dr. Hemmo Drexhage from ErasmusMC in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
A new paradigm in psychiatry
Identifying some biological markers of mental disorders allows us to propose a personalized and appropriate treatment; it is truly a new paradigm in the field of psychiatry. This is what has been done in some types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases—the so-called “targeted or personalized therapy.”
We spoke to a specialist who participated in this large psychiatric research project, Gara Arteaga Henriquez, a psychiatrist at Vall d’Hébron University Hospital from Barcelona, and specialist in this new medical branch, immunopsychiatry:
