Genetic predisposition to advanced biological ageing increases risk for childhood-onset recurrent major depressive disorder in a large UK sample.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous studies have revealed increased biological ageing amongst major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, as assayed by shorter leukocyte telomere lengths (TL). Stressors such as childhood maltreatment are more common amongst MDD patients, and it has been suggested that this might contribute to shorter TL present amongst patients. However, to our knowledge, no study has yet tested for reverse causality, i.e. whether a genetic predisposition to shorter TL might predispose to MDD or an earlier onset of MDD.

Methods

This study used a Mendelian randomisation design to investigate if shortened TL might increase risk for recurrent MDD in a relatively large UK sample (1628 MDD cases, 1140 controls). To achieve this, we used a subset of our sample, for which TL data wa

SUBMITTER: Michalek JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6191533 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature