0000000000418647
AUTHOR
Helge Frieling
Value of genetic and epigenetic testing as biomarkers of response to antidepressant treatment
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent and disabling psychiatric disorders worldwide and therefore an important public health priority. The selection process of antidepressant treatment is primarily guided by trial and error, and the outcomes with current antidepressant strategies are disappointing. The biological background of the disease is heterogeneous with presumably multiple biological systems involved. With the aim to individualize antidepressant treatment, multiple candidate gene and a few genome-wide association studies have been performed, but so far with very limited success. To address the dynamic changes of depressive symptoms and their response to treatme…
Methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene in clinically depressed patients compared to controls: The role of OXTR rs53576 genotype
The emerging field of epigenetics provides a biological basis for gene-environment interactions relevant to depression. We focus on DNA methylation of exon 1 and 2 of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) promoter. The research aims of the current study were to compare OXTR DNA methylation of depressed patients with healthy control subjects and to investigate possible influences of the OXTR rs53576 genotype. The sample of the present study consisted of 43 clinically depressed women recruited from a psychosomatic inpatient unit and 42 healthy, female control subjects - mean age 30 years (SD = 9). DNA methylation profiles of the OXTR gene were assessed from leukocyte DNA by means of bisulfite seq…