Acetyl-L-Carnitine Deficiency in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder
Acetyl-L-carnitine deficiency in patients with major SEE COMMENTARY depressive disorder Carla Nascaa,1, Benedetta Bigioa,b, Francis S. Leec,d, Sarah P. Younge,f, Marin M. Kautzg, Ashly Albrightd, James Beasleyf, David S. Millingtone,f, Aleksander A. Mathéh, James H. Kocsisd, James W. Murroughg, Bruce S. McEwena,1, and Natalie Rasgona,i aHarold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065; bBiostatistics and Experimental Research Design, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065; cSackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065; dDepartment of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065; eDivision of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710; fBiochemical Genetics Laboratory, Duke University Health System, Durham, NC 27710; gMood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; hDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; and iCenter for Neuroscience in Women’s Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305 Contributed by Bruce S. McEwen, June 15, 2018 (sent for review February 2, 2018; reviewed by Julio Licinio, Robert M. Post, and Charles L. Raison) The lack of biomarkers to identify target populations greatly limits neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and a critical regulator of synaptic the promise of precision medicine for major depressive disorder glutamate release, the metabotropic glutamate receptor of class-2, (MDD), a primary cause of ill health and disability. The endoge- mGlu2 (10, 16–18). In several animal models, LAC supplementa- nously produced molecule acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC) is critical for hip- tion has been shown to ameliorate glutamatergic dysfunction and pocampal function and several behavioral domains.
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