Jeanette J.

Lantin BN4D
Nursing Update:
Newly Discovered Trigger for Major Depression Opens New Possibilities for Treatments
University of Florida. (2023, March 30). Newly discovered trigger for major depression opens new possibilities for treatments.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230330172127.htm

A common amino acid, glycine, can deliver a "slow-down" signal to the brain, likely contributing to major
depression, anxiety and other mood disorders in some people, scientists at the Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for
Biomedical Innovation & Technology have found. The discovery, outlined Thursday in the journal Science,
improves understanding of the biological causes of major depression and could accelerate efforts to develop
new, faster-acting medications for such hard-to-treat mood disorders, said neuroscientist Kirill Martemyanov,
Ph.D., corresponding author of the study. Major depression is among the world's most urgent health needs. Its
numbers have surged in recent years, especially among young adults. As depression's disability, suicide numbers
and medical expenses have climbed, a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2021 put
its economic burden at $326 billion annually in the United States. That wasn't the only odd thing. The signaling
molecule was not an activator in the cells, but an inhibitor. The business end of GPR158 connected to a
partnering molecule that hit the brakes rather than the accelerator when bound to glycine. Laboute and
Martemyanov are listed as inventors on a patent application describing methods to study GPR158 activity.
Martemyanov is a cofounder of Blueshield Therapeutics, a startup company pursuing GPR158 as a drug target.
Glycine itself is sold as a nutritional supplement billed as improving mood. It is a basic building block of
proteins and affects many different cell types, sometimes in complex ways. In some cells, it sends slow-down
signals, while in other cell types, it sends excitatory signals. More research is needed to understand how the
body maintains the right balance of mGlyR receptors and how brain cell activity is affected, he said. He intends
to keep at it. "We are in desperate need of new depression treatments," Martemyanov said. "If we can target this
with something specific, it makes sense that it could help. We are working on it now."

The term "mental health" refers to a person's way of being when confronted with challenges in life.
How we respond to stress, interact with one another, and make decisions are all impacted by our mental health.
Additionally, a person's perspective about themselves, their circumstances, and other people has an impact on
their mental health. At every stage of life, mental health is just as vital as physical health. Our mental health has
an impact on every element of our lives.
It has been a continuing problem that mental health is not focused during the past generation. It became
a social stigma wherein people with mental health issues were not properly accepted by the society and were
labeled to be “just overreacting” to a situation that triggers them. This study however provides a basis that we
are taking steps forward in accepting the importance of the mental health of all people in the society. It shows
how technology has been a great tool for identifying gaps and providing more treatment options for people who
have mental health illness/disease. With this study, it can change a lot of perspective. The mindset change in
society has been one significant development. People are becoming more understanding of mental health
difficulties and supportive of those who are struggling. They are more inclined to seek therapy from medical
professionals and talk to them about common mental illnesses like sadness and anxiety. I believe that the desire
to connect various clinical systems and shared information have been the most significant digital innovations in
mental health. Over the past ten years, I have watched this change, and it has aided in the mainstreaming of
mental health. It is much more of a collaborative working environment now that we can see communications
from the neurologist, the diabetologist, or the general practitioners, and there is much more contact between
these many disciplines. People's care is significantly impacted by this. Lack of data, however, is currently one
of the largest technological problems in the field of mental health. There aren't many big research budgets
available for mental health. However, if we can strengthen research by examining steadily larger comparison
data sets, we can potentially advance our understanding of mental health issues.
Our knowledge of the causes of mental health issues, the efficacy of our therapies, and whether we are
allocating resources efficiently will all be strengthened by the power of all this data. That could fundamentally
alter how we approach and care for mental health in the future.