reviewNature NeuroscienceFeb 4, 2019GREEN OA

Genome-wide meta-analysis of depression identifies 102 independent variants and highlights the importance of the prefrontal brain regions

DMDavid M. HowardMJMark J. AdamsTCToni‐Kim ClarkeJDJonathan D. HaffertyJGJude Gibson

Royal Edinburgh Hospital · University of Edinburgh · +15 more institutions

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Major depression is a debilitating psychiatric illness that is typically associated with low mood and anhedonia. Depression has a heritable component that has remained difficult to elucidate with current sample sizes due to the polygenic nature of the disorder. To maximize sample size, we meta-analyzed data on 807,553 individuals (246,363 cases and 561,190 controls) from the three largest genome-wide association studies of depression. We identified 102 independent variants, 269 genes, and 15 genesets associated with depression, including both genes and gene pathways associated with synaptic structure and neurotransmission. An enrichment analysis provided further evidence of the importance of prefrontal brain…

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Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Anhedonia
  • Genome-wide association study
  • Depression (economics)
  • Genetic architecture
  • Prefrontal cortex
  • Neuroscience
  • Mood
  • Psychology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Good health and well-being
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