A life-threatening event in your life is a major influential factor of depression. This is an environmental risk factor but there are also genetic factors the lead to depression such as the serotonin transporter gene, with a crucial role in communication between neurons, also influences depression.
This has been suggested by a revolutionary study which is looking into the genetic and environmental factors that play a major role in the onset of depression.
An international group of scientists, headed by professors Jorge Cervilla Ballesteros and Blanca , from the department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Psychiatry of the University of Granada, has recently published in the prestigious journal Molecular Psychiatry the pioneering study PREDICT-gene, confirming the relation between allele s in the serotonin transporter gene and exposure to threatening life events in the onset of depression.
The study proves, for a population sample accounting for gender, age and family history of psychiatric disorders, that 24% of the Spanish population, comprising people with the s/s genotype, need minimal exposure to threatening life events, unlike individuals with s/l or l/l genotypes, thus confirming the relation between genetic and environmental factors in this mental disorder.
Tailor-made antidepressants
The most important consequence of research on interaction between genetic and environmental factors is that, in a foreseeable future, scientists will be able to produce measures to predict response to antidepressants taking into account each individuals genotype, i. e. they will be able to design tailor-made drugs according to each persons genetic configuration and their exposure to environmental factors.