This is the largest and most diverse study of depression.
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Next to 300 new genetic variants were associated with the depressionaccording to a new study covering a large sample of nearly 5 million people.
The international team, led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London, analyzed genetic data from 680,000 people with depression and 4 million people without depression across 29 countries.
This type of study looks at people’s DNA and genetic markers to determine whether genetic variants are linked to a specific trait or disease, in this case depression.
The researchers found 697 genetic variations, or differences in gene sequences, of which 293 were new discoveries.
The study linked 308 specific genes to a higher risk of depression, according to findings published this week in the journal Cell.
The associated genes were linked to neurons, a type of brain cell, found in areas such as the amygdala and hippocampus.
“Depression is a very common disorder and we still have much to learn about its biological underpinnings,” Cathryn Lewis, professor of genetic epidemiology and statistics at King’s College London and co-leader of the study, said in a statement.
“These results show that depression is highly polygenic and open downstream pathways to translate these findings into better care for people with depression,” she added.
The study authors reported that one in four participants were of non-European origin, representing a diverse cohort.
Well that the genetics is a factor in depressionthis can also depend strongly on social and psychological factors.
According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for depression also include traumatic or stressful events, a history of other mental disorders and substance abuse.
-Dr Jacob Crouse, a senior researcher at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, who was not involved in the study, told Euronews Health that the study was “an exciting and inspiring testament to the power of global collaboration.”
“Ultimately, these findings clearly demonstrate that ‘depression’ is a very complex family of conditions – not a single illness – that can be caused by many different processes that fail at different times in life,” he added.
A better understanding of depression
Many researchers and clinicians are enthusiastic about the clinical use of “polygenic risk scores,” which are an aggregation of an individual’s molecular genetic risk for a given condition (or set of conditions). added Mr. Crouse.
This type of predictive tool, in the context of youth mental health clinics for example, could help determine whether a person “is on the path to a serious type of mental illness.”
ADVERTISEMENTHowever, the research is not there yet and the researcher emphasizes that “genetic risk is not deterministic”.
“A person may be at very high genetic risk for depressive disorder, but not develop it for complex reasons that are impossible to know at the individual level,” he added.
“It would be potentially detrimental for clinicians to inform that person of their genetic risk – so there are trade-offs that need to be carefully weighed.”
According to 2019 data, around 7% of Europeans suffer from chronic depressionTHE women being more affected than men.
ADVERTISEMENTTreatments for depression may include therapy or medications for moderate or severe depression.
“While depression is a major and growing health problem, we lack the knowledge to better treat and prevent it,” Dr Brittany Mitchell, a researcher at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said in a statement. ) Berghofer, Australia.
“Larger, more inclusive studies like this will help us develop better treatments and interventions, ultimately improving lives and reducing the global impact of the disease.
“It will also add to the evidence that mental health disorders have a biological basis in the same way as other conditions such as heart disease,” added Mitchell, who is part of the team analyzing the data. .
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