Background
Although genetic variants may play a key role in development of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), relevant research is scarce.
Methods
To examine whether the polymorphisms of BDNF (rs6265) and NTRK2 (rs1387923, rs2769605 and rs1565445) genes confer risk for TRD in major depressive disorder (MDD), a total of 948 MDD patients were recruited in a 12-week, multi center, prospective longitudinal study.
Results
Our study showed a significant allelic association between rs1565445 and TRD with an excess of the T allele in the TRD group, compared to non-TRD group (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.16–1.76, p = 0.0008); while patients with genotype C/C and T/C in rs1565445 were less likely to develop TRD than those carrying T/T (OR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.33–0.82; OR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.54–0.97, respectively; p = 0.005). Haplotype T–T (rs1565445 and rs1387923) had 1.41-fold increased risk of TRD (p = 0.0014). Furthermore, significant four-locus (rs1387923-rs1565445-rs2769605-rs6265) gene-gene interactions were detected by the Multifactor-dimensionality reduction (MDR) method.
Discussion
These results suggest that the interactions of BDNF (rs6265) with NTRK2 (rs1387923, rs2769605 and rs1565445) gene polymorphisms likely play an essential role in the development of TRD in Han Chinese MDD patients.
There is increasing evidence supporting the relationship between bipolar disorder (BP) and neurotrophin. The present study investigated the relationship between neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 2 (NTRK2) gene polymorphisms and bipolar I disorder (BP I) susceptibility and treatment response to mood stabilizers (lithium or valproate). Two-hundred eighty-four patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for BP I and 295 matched healthy controls were enrolled into this study. TaqMan® SNP genotyping assays were applied to genotype three NTRK2 gene polymorphisms (rs2769605, rs1565445, rs1387923). Our study showed a significant allelic association between NTRK2 gene polymorphism rs2769605 and treatment response to mood stabilizers in BP I patients (t=−2.53, P=0.01). However, no significant association between NTRK2 gene polymorphisms and BP I susceptibility was observed after correcting for multiple comparisons. The results suggest that the NTRK2 gene polymorphism likely plays an essential role in treatment response to mood stabilizers in Han Chinese BP I patients.
The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the levels of mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophin factor (BDNF) and a related gene MEK1 were more obviously decreased in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In total, 50 patients with major depressive disorder (including 26 with TRD and 24 with treatment-responsive depression) and 48 healthy controls were enrolled. BDNF and MEK1 mRNA levels in blood samples from all patients and controls were measured using reverse transcriptase-PCR. BDNF and MEK1 mRNA levels were significantly reduced in patients with major depressive disorder when compared with healthy controls (BDNF: P<0.01; MEK1: P<0.001), as well as among treatment-resistant depressive patients as compared with treatment-responsive depressive patients (BDNF: P<0.001; MEK1: P<0.01). Our findings support the hypothesis that BDNF and MEK1 mRNA expression levels are more obviously decreased in patients with TRD.
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