The PHF21B gene is associated with major depression and modulates the stress response.

ABSTRACT: Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects around 350 million people worldwide; however, the underlying genetic basis remains largely unknown. In this study, we took into account that MDD is a gene-environment disorder, in which stress is a critical component, and used whole-genome screening of functional variants to investigate the 'missing heritability' in MDD. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using single- and multi-locus linear mixed-effect models were performed in a Los Angeles Mexican-American cohort (196 controls, 203 MDD) and in a replication European-ancestry cohort (499 controls, 473 MDD). Our analyses took into consideration the stress levels in the control populations. The Mexican-American controls, comprised primarily of recent immigrants, had high levels of stress due to a

SUBMITTER: Wong ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5461220 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature