As an essential amino acid for the human body, tryptophan and a series of intermediate products of its metabolic pathways (serotonin pathway, kynurenine pathway and indole pathway) have become the therapeutic targets for depression, schizophrenia, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancers (1), such as some of the main rate-limiting enzymes (2) tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO), kynurenine monooxygenase (KMO), indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 2 (IDO2). This evidence concerns the gene IDO1 and depressive symptom measurement.