hsa_circRNA_103636: potential novel diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker in Major depressive disorder

This study aimed to determine whether circular RNA (circRNA) molecules in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) could be used as novel non-invasive biomarkers for major depressive disorder (MDD). s: Differentially expressed circRNAs were screened using an Arraystar Human CircRNA Array (which includes 13,617 human circRNAs) and qRT-PCR. Thirty MDD patients were randomly selected to retest the circRNA levels after 4-week and 8-week antidepressant regimens. Four differentially expressed circRNAs were identified between MDD patients and controls, and only down-regulated was significantly altered after the 8-week treatment in MDD patients. These results suggest that altered expression of in PBMCs is a potential novel biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of MDD.