Researchers think they have found a new way to spot and treat major depression early, which could help many people get better faster.
A team from the University of Queensland worked together with scientists from the University of Minnesota. They looked at a tiny molecule called ATP – the cell’s “energy money” – in the brains and blood cells of young adults who have depression.
Associate Professor Susannah Tye said this is the first time anyone has seen clear patterns of these energy‑related molecules in both the brain and the bloodstream of young people with major depressive disorder.
She explained, “It looks like depression may start because brain and blood cells change the way they use energy.”
Fatigue, or feeling very tired, is a common and hard‑to‑treat symptom of depression. It can take years for someone to find the right medicine. The lack of research has slowed the development of new treatments, so the scientists hope this discovery will lead to earlier help and more focused medicines.
Brain Scans and Blood Samples
The Minnesota group collected brain scans and blood samples from 18 volunteers aged 18‑25 who had been diagnosed with depression. The Queensland Brain Institute then compared those samples with ones from people who do not have depression.
Unexpected Energy Patterns
Dr. Roger Varela, a researcher at QBI, said the cells from the depressed participants behaved oddly. When the cells were resting, they made more energy molecules than normal, but when they were stressed they could not increase energy production.
This suggests that early in the illness, cells may work too hard at first and then run out of steam, which could cause long‑term problems.
He added, “You might think depressed cells would make less energy, but we saw the opposite. It looks like the mitochondria – the cell’s power plants – can’t keep up when more energy is needed, which may explain low mood, low drive, and slower thinking.”
Changing How We See Depression
Dr. Varela said the findings could also help reduce stigma. “Depression changes many parts of the body, not just the mind. It shows up in the brain and blood at the cellular level,” he said.
He stressed that not all depression is the same; each person’s biology is unique, so treatments need to be personalized.
The study was led by Dr. Katie Cullen from Minnesota, and the special brain‑imaging method to measure ATP was created by Professors Xiao Hong Zhu and Wei Chen. The results were published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.