hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
Despite increased attention to global mental health, psychiatric genetic
research has been dominated by studies in high-income countries,
especially with populations of European descent. The objective of this
study was to assess single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FKBP5
gene in a population living in South Asia. Among adults in Nepal,
depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI),
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with the PTSD Checklist-Civilian
Version (PCL-C), and childhood maltreatment with the Childhood Trauma
Questionnaire (CTQ). FKBP5 SNPs were genotyped for 682 participants.
Cortisol awakening response (CAR) was assessed in a sub-sample of 118
participants over 3 days. The FKBP5 tag-SNP rs9296158 showed a main
effect on depressive symptoms (p = 0.03). Interaction of rs9296158 and
childhood maltreatment predicted adult depressive symptoms (p = 0.02)
but not PTSD. Childhood maltreatment associated with endocrine response
in individuals homozygous for the A allele, demonstrated by a negative
CAR and overall hypocortisolaemia in the rs9296158 AA genotype and
childhood maltreatment group (p < 0.001). This study replicated findings
related to FKBP5 and depression but not PTSD. Gene environment studies
should take differences in prevalence and cultural significance of
phenotypes and exposures into account when interpreting cross-cultural
findings.
