Posted by SLS on September 11, 2015, at 22:00:42
In reply to Test Predicts Drug Response in Depression, Anxiety, posted by Hugh on September 6, 2015, at 13:10:52
This is not new territory. I have seen this type of study before. I don't know the value of this information, though. The results of these tests are only an index of the metabolism of drugs rather than being a method of choosing between drugs with different mechanisms of action. Using the results of this study, one can simply adjust the target dosages of individual drugs and boost response rates. I could be wrong.
I think there are other ways to go that offer better drug selection. The rEEG sounds interesting. I never heard of it before.
SPECT?
FDG PET scans (baseline or functional)?
Receptor PET scans (includes transporters and other targets)?
fMRI?
PET/MRI hybrid scan?
Genetic tests for neurotransmitter transporters?
Genetic tests for BDNF gene transcription rate?
Dexamethasone suppression test (DST)?
Neurotransmitter receptor binding?
I had thought to use biological probes - including FDA approved drugs - in combination with FDG PET scans to assay changes in brain activity or to use receptor PET scans to assay receptor densities. This information can then be used to choose treatments according to a treatment response database established over time by one or more sites of investigation. The NIH clinical center or intramural NIH-funded programs might be the best sources of information. The database might not even be necessary if sufficient information can be collected using smaller prospective studies.
Just an idea.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1082150
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150901/msgs/1082395.html