Seungyeon Lee

Seungyeon LEE, Hee-Gyoo KANG. Korean J Clin Lab Sci 2026;58:163-73. https://doi.org/10.15324/kjcls.2026.58.2.163

Spinal cord injury (SCI) reduces quality of life and causes chronic inflammation. Mindfulness-based interventions may improve these symptoms. However, few studies have examined the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in individuals with SCI. This study evaluated a tailored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program. We conducted a non-randomized controlled trial at a national rehabilitation hospital in the Republic of Korea, involving 51 adult inpatients with SCI who were assigned to either the MBCT (n = 26) or treatment-as-usual (TAU) (n = 25) group. The 4-week MBCT program included 12 sessions emphasizing breathing - and auditory-based practices while excluding yoga and walking meditations. Additional components addressed illness acceptance and pain coping. Primary outcomes were quality of life and spiritual well-being. Secondary outcomes included inflammatory biomarkers. Assessments were conducted at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and four weeks later (T2). Linear mixed-effects models were estimated. No significant group-by-time interaction was observed with the FACT-G or FACIT-Sp-12 overall. However, the FACIT-Sp-12 showed a significant group effect. Among participants with normal-to-mild baseline depression, significant group-by-time and group-by-baseline depression interactions were observed. Biomarker analyses revealed increased IL-10, decreased sTNFR2, and lower CRP levels in the MBCT group. Tailored MBCT may enhance spiritual well-being and inflammatory profiles in patients with SCI, particularly in those with lower baseline depression. However, further randomized trials are warranted for greater robustness.Trial Registration: Not applicable (non-randomized pilot study).

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifactorial and highly recurrent illness. Patients are typically required to take antidepressants for 6–12 months following a single depressive episode, even if symptoms are alleviated. However, some individuals are reluctant to use these medications or adhere to prescribed dosing instructions. Therefore, this study aimed to identify biomarkers that can predict MDD recurrence, thus facilitating early detection of relapses and providing strong clinical justification for sustained antidepressant therapy. Serum samples were collected from participants, categorized into two groups: major depressive disorder with a single episode (MDD-S) and recurrent episodes (MDD-R) groups. Candidate biomarkers were identified via targeted tandem mass spectrometry, with features extracted using MassHunter Profinder v10.0 and Mass Profiler Professional software v 15.1 (p < 0.05, fold-change ≥ 1.2). After spectral matching, hypoxanthine was finally identified. Subsequently, a multiple reaction monitoring analysis, a targeted metabolomics technique, was performed to validate hypoxanthine. This analysis confirmed that hypoxanthine levels were significantly lower in the MDD-R group than in the MDD-S group. Validation results demonstrated that this difference was independent of sex and the presence or absence of antidepressant treatment. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic analysis confirmed that the MDD-S and MDD-R groups were significantly distinct (Area Under the Curve = 0.87, sensitivity = 80%, specificity = 80%). In conclusion, this study identified hypoxanthine as a biomarker for predicting MDD recurrence, confirming lower hypoxanthine levels in patients with recurrent MDD than in those with single-episode MDD. Hypoxanthine is a key intermediate in purine metabolism and is known to be involved in the regulation of neuronal energy homeostasis and oxidative stress; these processes are increasingly recognized as being closely linked to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder. This biomarker may enable the identification of patients at a high risk of recurrence, thereby facilitating the development of personalized treatment strategies.

Seungyeon LEE, Hee-Gyoo KANG. Korean J Clin Lab Sci. 2025;57:320-8. https://doi.org/10.15324/kjcls.2025.57.3.320

Seungyeon LEE, Jiyeong LEE. Korean J Clin Lab Sci. 2025;57:181-8. https://doi.org/10.15324/kjcls.2025.57.2.181

Objective: Spontaneous remission may influence the outcome of clinical trials and evaluation of antidepressant efficacy, as it is associated with placebo effects and false remission rates. However, the characteristics of spontaneous remission and its biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the metabolic signatures and underlying biological mechanisms of spontaneous remission using metabolomics. Methods: This study conducted untargeted and targeted metabolomic analyses in a discovery cohort (n = 16) comprising patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and those who were spontaneously remitted without medication. Findings were validated in an independent cohort (n = 185), comprising drug-treated patients and healthy controls. Results: Acetylcarnitine levels were significantly increased in spontaneous remission compared to depression, whereas glycerophosphocholine levels were decreased in spontaneous remission. Both metabolites showed the highest concentration in the control group, followed by the remission group, and the lowest concentration in the depression group, regardless of medication status. These changes suggest alterations in mitochondrial and membrane lipid metabolism. Conclusion: Altered levels in acetylcarnitine and glycerophosphocholine may reflect key pathogenic mechanisms of MDD. These findings offer new insight into spontaneous remission as a distinct clinical subtype of depression and may highlight the potential of these metabolites as biomarkers for treatment monitoring in MDD.Keywords: Depressive disorder, major; Remission, spontaneous; Metabolomics; Acetylcarnitine; Glycerophosphocholine

Purpose: Depressive mood is a major psychiatric symptom that causes serious disturbances in daily life. Unlike physical symptoms, psychiatric symptoms are more difficult to evaluate objectively. Therefore, we aimed to discover biomarkers that reflect changes in serum protein metabolism during a clinical depressive mood. Methods: Serum protein profiling was conducted in participants who were not experiencing a current depressive episode (healthy individuals and patients in remission). Serum proteins were identified and quantified using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins with a p-value < 0.05 were selected, and candidate biomarkers were verified using multiple reaction monitoring analysis for absolute quantification. Results: Apolipoprotein A-IV levels were lower in the group with a current episode of depression than in the remission and healthy control groups. Further, fibronectin levels were also lower in the group with a current episode of depression than in the healthy control group but not in the remission group. Conclusion: We found that apolipoprotein A-IV-mediated inflammation is involved in clinical depressive moods, possibly by inducing neurological changes in the brain. Therefore, apolipoprotein A-IV and fibronectin levels may be explored as potentially novel biomarkers for detecting a current episode of depression.

Ergothioneine, which is a naturally occurring metabolite, generally accumulates in tissues and cells subjected to oxidative stress, owing to its structural stability at physiological pH; therefore, it has been attracting attention in various biomedical fields. Ergothioneine has also been suggested as a potential forensic marker, but its applicability has not yet been quantitatively validated. In this study, quantitative analysis of ergothioneine in bloodstains was conducted to estimate the age of bloodstains and that of bloodstain donors. Blood from youth and elderly participants was used to generate bloodstains. After extracting metabolites from the bloodstains under prevalent age conditions, ergothioneine levels were quantified by mass spectrometry via multiple reaction monitoring. The concentration of ergothioneine in day 0 bloodstains (fresh blood), was significantly higher in the elderly group than in the youth group, but it did not differ by sex. Statistically significant differences were observed between the samples from the two age groups on days 0, 5 and 7, and on days 2 and 3 compared with day 0. The findings suggest that ergothioneine can be used to estimate the age of bloodstains and of the donor; it could be useful as a potential marker in reconstructing crime scenes.