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A team of researchers established a link between depression and low blood levels of acetylcarnitine synthesized naturally in the body and marketed as a nutritional supplement, according to a study published Monday in the journal PNAS
The discovery, which is based on extensive research on animals, paves the way for a new clbad of antidepressants that could be 'more free of side effects and d & rsquo; "Faster action" than is currently used, according to one of the lead authors, Natalie Rasgon.
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression, is the most prevalent mood disorder in the United States and in the United States. the world, affecting between 8 and 10 percent of the general population at some point.
According to the Orga World Health Organization, between 2005 and 2015, cases of depression increased by 18.4%, becoming a major cause of disability globally.
"This is the main reason for absenteeism at work and one of the leading causes of suicide, but even worse, current drug treatments are only effective for about 50 percent of the people who are prescribed. " Rasgon lamented.
In experiments with rodents, acetylcarnitine deficiency was badociated with behavior similar to depression, while oral or intravenous administration of this substance reversed the symptoms of animals and reestablished normal behavior.
Animals responded to acetylcarnitine supplementation within days. On the contrary, current antidepressants took two to four weeks to appear, both in experiments with mice and between patients. "Acetylcarnitine is a crucial mediator of fat metabolism and energy production throughout the body and plays a special role in the brain," says another author, Carla Nasca, Rockefeller University of New York. (United States)
In a parallel badysis of the same team, Nasca and colleagues studied men and women aged 20 to 70 who had been diagnosed with depression.
When comparing their blood samples with those of 45 demographically matched healthy individuals, it is found that acetylcarnitine levels in patients' blood are significantly lower " according to the authors.
A more detailed report shows that the lowest levels were given between and the participants whose symptoms were more severe, whose medical records indicated that They were resistant to previous treatments or that the onset of the disorder occurred early in life.
Acetylcarnitine levels were also lower in patients with history of antecedents abuse, abandonment, poverty or exposure to violence in childhood
Source: EFE
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