Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Jeffrey Hugh Meyer

Moyez Dharsee

Nathalie Ginovart

Jian Chen

Ken Evans

Suzanne Ackloo

A method of treating or preventing postpartum blues or depression is described, comprising administering to a subject in need thereof: an antioxidant source; a tryptophan composition comprising from 1.0 g to 5.0 g of tryptophan; and a tyrosine composition comprising from 2.0 g to 50 g of tyrosine. The antioxidant source may comprise a food or an extract derived from such a food as grapes, berries such as blueberries, citrus fruit, pomegranate, tomato, squash, carrot, sweet potato, dark green vegetables, beets, leafy vegetables,vegetables, peppers, melons, pineapples, lentils, plant oils, and/or tree nuts.

Methods, compositions, and kits addressing depressed mood

Kits for the treatment or prophylaxis of depressed mood are described, for subjects with increased MAO-A levels, excessive crying, or subjects within or beyond the 5-day postpartum period. The kits are used to implement a method by which the subject is administered an antioxidant source on at least the first day of a 3 to 5 day regime; a tryptophan composition on the evening of the penultimate treatment day, simultaneously or following the antioxidant source; and a tyrosine composition the day after the tryptophan composition, on the final treatment day. The kit comprises an antioxidant source which may comprise or be derived from blueberries. Individuals with depressed mood due to perimenopause, alcohol use disorders or withdrawal, or who are up to or beyond 18-months postpartum, may benefit from the kits. The kits described may reduce the likelihood of advancing from depressed mood to depression.

Disclosed is a method for diagnosing a mood disorder or susceptibility to a mood disorder, including depressive disorders and bipolar disorder, from a biological sample taken from a subject. The method includes detecting markers of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) in the biological sample; determining MAO-A concentration from the markers; and correlating the MAO-A concentration in the biological sample to a control group which does not have a mood disorder in order to diagnose or determine susceptibility to the mood disorder in the subject. Also disclosed is a method of detecting peripheral markers of MAO-A for the diagnosis of a mood disorder or susceptibility to a mood disorder. Also provided are polypeptide markers.

Markers for mood disorders

A method for the treatment or prophylaxis of depressed mood is described, for subjects with increased MAO-A levels, subjects prone to excessive crying, or beyond 5-days postpartum. The subject is administered an antioxidant source on at least the first day of a 3 to 5 day regime; a tryptophan composition on the evening of the penultimate treatment day, simultaneously or following the antioxidant source; and a tyrosine composition the day after the tryptophan composition, on the final treatment day. The antioxidant source may comprise blueberries or another anthocyanin-containing fruit, vegetable, nut, legume, or a juice or extract thereof. Individuals with depressed mood due to perimenopause, due to an alcohol use disorder or withdrawal therefrom, or who are in a postpartum period up to or beyond 18-months, may benefit from the treatment regime. The described method can reduce the likelihood of advancing from depressed mood to postpartum depression in the postpartum period.

Methods and compositions addressing depressed mood

A method of treating or preventing depressed mood is described, such as for treating or preventing postpartum blues or depression or other conditions associated with increased MAO-A levels. The method comprises administering to a subject an antioxidant source at least once between day-1 to day-5 postpartum (or on treatment days 1 to 5 of a non-postpartum regimen); an optional tryptophan composition on the evening of day-3 to day-5, simultaneously or following the antioxidant source; and a tyrosine composition the day after administering the tryptophan composition, for example on day-5.

The present invention relates to the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of mood disorders. For example, a diagnosis may be performed by determining whether a monoamine oxidase in a vertebrate is elevated compared to a healthy control subject. Methods of monitoring treatments and methods for identifying treatments for mood disorders are also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Toronto, Canada

Jeffrey Hugh Meyer