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VARIATION IN A SPECIFIC GENE MAY INCREASE RISK FOR DEPRESSION | |
| Contact: Serina Neumann, Ph.D. Phone: 412-624-8855 Email: neumannsa@msx.upmc.edu Embargoed until: March 3, 2004 |
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Vancouver, BC, Canada - Depression is a common and often a chronically debilitating health threat. The exact cause of depression is unknown, but both inherited factors and individual experiences influence risk for depression. Dr. Serina Neumann, a Research Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and her colleagues, reported on a specific genetic mutation that may promote depression at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting held March 2-5 in Vancouver Canada. Since risk for depression may be inherited and changes in acetylcholine function, a brain chemical, have been related to depression, it is possible that variation in genes that direct acetylcholine function may contribute to depression. Thus, the relation of depression to variation in the choline transporter gene, a gene that regulates acetylcholine availability, was studied. The choline transporter gene directs the transport of choline, a biochemical needed to create acetylcholine, into nerve cells for proper transmission of nerve impulses. Each person inherits two versions of this gene, one from each parent. Variation in part of this gene is labeled "G" or "T". Specifically, each person inherits two versions the "G" variant (GG), two versions of the "T" variant (TT), or one of each (GT). In a group of 400 middle-aged, community participants, people who inherited two "G" variants (GG) in the choline transporter gene reported more depressive symptoms than those who inherited a "T" variant (TT or GT). This is the first evidence suggesting that variation in the choline transport gene may promote depression. These results coincide with Dr. Neumann's previous work; this same variant is also related to respective changes in a biological marker of acetylcholine function (Psychosomatic Medicine, in press). | |
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Psychosomatic Medicine is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, published bimonthly. For information about the journal, contact Vicki White, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production,
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