The gut microbiota may be altered in people with depression as a result of treatment. These microorganisms reorganize differently in individuals who respond to therapy. In a multiomics study of antidepressant-naive patients presented at the 2026 World Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), scientists from National Taiwan University found that patients who improved after antidepressant treatment maintained a more balanced and functional microbial ecosystem, recovered beneficial metabolites, and displayed blood-based biological signals that aligned with these changes.

Receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) acts as a central signaling node regulating apoptosis, necroptosis and inflammatory pathways. Researchers from China Pharmaceutical University reported the discovery and preclinical characterization of LT-1339-553, a novel RIPK1 inhibitor, in models of schistosomiasis-induced hepatic fibrosis.

Researchers from Medizinische Hochschule Hannover and collaborators thus aimed to elucidate signaling adaptations following MAPK pathway inhibition in BRAFV 600E mutant cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) by generating a BRAF V600E-driven model of CCA.

Liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist used in diabetes and obesity, could alleviate depression through a pathway that does not depend on the GLP-1 receptor but instead on the gut microbiota, since the treatment increases the presence of the bacterium Lactobacillus delbrueckii. This symbiotic microorganism produces a lipid that modulates neuronal activity, normalizing the hyperactivation of brain regions in mice involved in emotional processing, which ultimately reduces depressive behaviors.

Researchers from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine described the role of TRIM54 in cirrhosis progression using two independent animal models of chronic liver injury – a DEN-induced rat model and a CCl4-induced mouse model of liver cirrhosis.

Extracellular matrix specialist Engitix Ltd. is teaming up with GSK plc to delve into the mechanisms underlying regression of fibrosis after treatment for chronic liver disease, and identify and validate new drug targets involved in this process.

Researchers from Rectify Pharmaceuticals Inc. presented preclinical efficacy data on RTY-406, a novel dual-acting ABCB4/MDR3 and ABCB11/BSEP modulator, in animal models of primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified multiple loci associated with complex diseases, but these are mostly on regulatory genes in the non-coding part of the genome and it has proved difficult to identify the effector genes that they control. Now, researchers in the U.K. have shown how single cell sequencing at scale can be used to precisely link non-coding GWAS loci to specific protein coding genes and cell types.