Biology of Depression : From Novel Insights to Therapeutic Strategies
ISBN: 9783527619672
Platform/Publisher: WOL / John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Unlimited; Download: Unlimited
Subjects: Life Sciences; Cell & Molecular Biology;

Reported by the WHO and the World Bank to be the fourth cause of disability worldwide, depression can best be explained from a genetic perspective as a complex disorder of gene-environment interactions.
This is the first major reference to cover the clinical aspects of this common and complex disorder of unknown cause. Readers will also learn about our current understanding of the psychosocial, environmental, biological, and genetic aspects of depression. The authors are internationally recognized experts from leading academic and industrial environments, and they present the features, advantages, and limitations of animal models while reviewing candidate biological systems and genetic approaches. In addition, the book covers the important topic of the medical consequences of depression, as clinicians and investigators increasingly appreciate how it negatively impacts on cardiovascular function and bone mineral density. Finally, a separate section is devoted to the biochemical and molecular basis for existing treatments, along with strategies for the use of genomic tools to discover new targets for antidepressants and to predict therapeutic outcomes.


Professor Ma-Li Wong, Co-Director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics & Clinical Pharmacology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, was trained in neurology at the University of S'o Paulo, Brazil and psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and at Yale University. She joined the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, MD) in 1993 as Head of the Molecular Neuroendocrinology Unit, Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch. In 1999 she took up a professorship at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, later becoming Director of its Neuroendocrine Core, and has been Director of the General Clinical Research Center Core Laboratory since 2002. Her current research focuses on the genomics and genetics of antidepressant treatment. Professor Wong is Associate Editor of Molecular Psychiatry.

Professor Julio Licinio, Co-Director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics & Clinical Pharmacology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, was trained in medicine at the University of S'o Paulo, Brazil, endocrinology at the University of Chicago, and psychiatry at Cornell University and Yale University and joined the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, MD) in 1993 as Head of the Clinical Research Unit, Clinical Neuroendocrinology Branch. In 1999 he came to UCLA as Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Medicine/Endocrinology. He is Founding President of the International Society of Pharmacogenomics and one of the principal investigators in the NIH Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Research Network. His main research interests include the role of leptin in neuroendocrine-immune interactions and pharmacogenomics of antidepressants. Professor Licinio is Editor of The Pharmacogenomics Journal and Molecular Psychiatry.
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