Genetic Association of Depression with Obesity

An international consortium showed that patients with depression and increased appetite and/or weight (A/W) carried a higher number of genetic risk variants for body mass index (BMI) and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and leptin. Data sets were drawn from case-control, cohort, and population-based studies, with established psychiatric diagnoses and genome-wide genotype data from September 28, 2015, through May 20, 2017. There were 11 837 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 14 791 control individuals, 59.1% female. Among participants with MDD, 5347 (45.2%) were classified in the decreased A/W and 1871 (15.8%) in the increased A/W subgroups. Common genetic variants explained approximately 10% of the heritability in the 2 subgroups. The increased A/W subgroup showed a strong and positive genetic correlation with BMI, whereas the decreased A/W subgroup showed an inverse correlation. Furthermore, the increased A/W subgroup had a higher polygenic risk for increased BMI (odds ratio [OR], 1.18) and levels of CRP (OR, 1.08) and leptin (OR, 1.09). The findings suggest that the established phenotypic associations between atypical depressive symptoms and obesity-related traits may arise from shared pathophysiologic mechanisms. Source: https://jamanetwork.com/