Major Depression is also genetic

THE COMPANIES ARE EXCITED THE NIH IS EXCITED BUT HOW ABOUT PREVENTION OF THESE GENE MUTATIONS THROUGH PAYING ATTENTION TO THE MALE BIOLOGICAL CLOC?



We are truly delighted that Myriad has made such rapid progress on this dramatic scientific achievement," said Brian B. Spear, Ph.D., Director of Pharmacogenomics, Abbott Laboratories. "The identification of innovative new drugs for the treatment of depression is an important goal for Abbott's Neuroscience group. Abbott and Myriad scientists are working together to identify small molecule modulators of DEP1 using the state of the art drug discovery technologies available at both companies

1: Mol Psychiatry. 2006 Feb;11(2):121-2. Links
DCNP1: a novel candidate gene for major depression.Willis-Owen SA, Shifman S, Copley RR, Flint J.
PMID: 16189510 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE


Mutant Gene Linked to Treatment-Resistant Depression

A mutant gene that starves the brain of serotonin, a mood-regulating chemical messenger, has been discovered and found to be 10 times more prevalent in depressed patients than in control subjects, report researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Patients with the mutation failed to respond well to the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant medications, which work via serotonin, suggesting that the mutation may underlie a treatment-resistant subtype of the illness.

The mutant gene codes for the brain enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase-2, that makes serotonin, and results in 80 percent less of the neurotransmitter. It was carried by nine of 87 depressed patients, three of 219 healthy controls and none of 60 bipolar disorder patients. Drs. Marc Caron, Xiaodong Zhang and colleagues at Duke University announced their findings in the January 2005 Neuron, published online in mid-December.

"If confirmed, this discovery could lead to a genetic test for vulnerability