| Title: | Classical Human Leukocyte Antigen Alleles and C4 Haplotypes Are Not Significantly Associated With Depression |
| Journal: | Biol Psychiatry |
| Published: | 1 Mar 2020 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31570195/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.06.031 |
Publication 1922
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Abstract
A bi-directional relationship between autoimmune diseases and depression has been reported in the literature, meaning that people with a history of depression are at increased risk for developing autoimmune diseases and vice-versa. The mechanisms underlying the bi-directional relationship are poorly understood, but one explanation could be that there is shared genetic risk for depression and autoimmune diseases.In our study we looked at a region of the genome called the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). The MHC is important in human immunity and harbours genetic variation that increases risk for autoimmune diseases. We asked whether genetic variation in the MHC could also increase risk for depression.
We started by using information from the online Mental Health Questionnaire completed by some UK Biobank participants to identify people with a history of depression and those without a history of depression. We then tested whether different forms (alleles) of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes located in the MHC were more common in people with a history of depression compared to those without a history of depression.
We did not find a statistically significant result, meaning that we found no evidence that the HLA alleles we tested are involved in depression. When we lowered the threshold for statistical significance, we found suggestive evidence that three HLA alleles were associated with very modest protection for depression. Overall, our results suggest that variation in HLA genes does not play a major role in risk for depression.
1 Author
- Glanville KP et al.
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 18177 | Multi-trait GWAS analyses in the UK Biobank |
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