Abstract
The etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) involves many factors such as heredity and environment. There are very few MDD-related studies in Chinese population using twin or sib-pairs for depression-control samples. Here we used the microarray approach and compared gene expression profiling of peripheral blood lymphocytes from 6 sib-pairs discordant on lifetime history of MDD. Within sib-pair differentially expressed genes are obvious fewer in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th compared with those in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th sib-pairs. Gene expression pattern of these DEGs distinguished MDD individuals from the normal one in 3rd, 4th, and 6th sib-pair but not in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th pair, suggesting heterogeneity of different sib-pairs and somewhat commonalities among the 3rd, 4th, and 6th sib-pairs. Comprehensive protein interaction network analysis revealed two key genes PTH and FGF2 in a dominant network where the majority of the genes were significantly down-regulated. PTH was significantly down-regulated in all the sib-pairs while FGF2 was in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th sib-pairs. KEGG enrichment analysis of all the DEGs in networks showed that PTH and related genes were significantly enriched in the pathway of parathyroid hormone secretion, synthesis, and action while FGF2 and related genes were significantly enriched in the pathways of cancer and specifically breast cancer. Generally reduced expression of these genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes of MDD individuals implied their functional repression associated with MDD. Pending validation in more samples, the findings in this study provided valuable cues for understanding the potential mechanism of MDD, as well as potential markers for the diagnosis and treatment of depression in the Chinese population.
Highlights
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic mental disease with low mood, loss of interest, and lack of energy as the core symptoms
Studies on brain comparative transcriptomics indicated altered glial, endothelial and ATPase activity related to MDD [11]; Sha and Banihashemi detected a cerise of pathways including immune response and transmembrane transport, which were associated with regional grey matter volume change regional structural variations in MDD [13], A single-nucleus transcriptomics of the prefrontal cortex in major depressive disorder found greatest dysregulation occurred in deep layer excitatory neurons and immature oligodendrocyte precursor cells [15]
Combined with other indexes such as Suicide score and total score of compulsion, she was diagnosed with MDD
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic mental disease with low mood, loss of interest, and lack of energy as the core symptoms. Translational Psychiatry (2021)11:540 diagnostic criteria for depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM-V); (2) aged between 18 and 45; (3) more than 6 years of education (primary school or above); (4) no history of electroconvulsive therapy within 3 months; (5) patients of first-episode and non-medication, the total score of HMDA ≥ 17; (6) understand the content of the study, hope to attend and be able to complete the whole experiment, and were willing to provide blood samples. The inclusion criteria for the healthy control of sib-pairs were slightly different:(1) must be siblings (excluding parents or children); (2) not suffering from depression or other mental illness; (3) aged between 18 and 45; (4) more than 6 years of education (primary school or above); (5) understand the content of the study, hope to participate in and complete the whole experiment, and were willing to provide blood samples. Functional enrichment analysis Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and KEGG enrichment analyses of the interesting gene sets were generated using the online platform OmicsBean (http://www.omicsbean.cn/)
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