Genetic factors play a small but significant role in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), with notable genetic overlap with schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, cognitive traits, and body mass index (BMI). Researchers used a machine-learning model to predict the likelihood of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with major depressive disorder, revealing genetic loci linked to TRD. Their findings suggest new biological directions and potential treatments, especially regarding the inverse relationship between BMI and treatment resistance.
Credit: SciTechDaily.com Genetic influences play a small yet important role in severe depression that is resistant to conventional treatments, say researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital . The heritability of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) was found to have significant genetic overlap with schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, cognitive, alcohol and smoking traits, and body mass index (BMI), suggesting a shared biology and, potentially, new treatment avenues.
The report, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry , provides insights into the genetics and biology underlying TRD, supports the utility of estimating disease probabilities from clinical data for genomic investigations, and “lays the groundwork for future efforts to apply genomic data for biomarker and drug development.” “Despite the large proportion of patients with TRD, the biology has remained poo.
