Mass spectrometry approaches for monitoring therapeutic response in major depressive disorder.

Summary: Depression is a tough illness, and finding the right medicine is often a guessing game. Patients sometimes try many different pills before finding one that actually works. Scientists want to fix this by finding special "clues" in our blood, urine, or spinal fluid. Using a high-tech laboratory tool called mass spectrometry, they can measure tiny molecules in the body. If doctors can read these molecular clues, they can pick the best treatment for you right from the start. This review shows how combining this technology with other biological data could soon lead to faster, custom-made treatments for depression, replacing the old trial-and-error method.