High
risk of depression in women with presenilin-1
mutation
There
is an association between depression and an
enhanced risk of Alzheimer's disease. In some
families, enhanced risk of Alzheimer's disease
is inherited as a genetic trait and careful
research has suggested that depression may occur
before cognitive symptoms. The effect of the
mutations in the presenilin-1 (PS1) gene on mood
and cognition was examined in a recent
study.
Subjects were 33 Mexican related women (17 PS1
mutation carriers and 16 non-carriers) unaware
of their genetic status and not demented. They
underwent an interview and a battery of
cognitive tests, and completed the Beck
depression inventory (BDI) which provided a
measure of depression severity by totalling the
score on each item. Blood was drawn for genetic
testing and PS1 mutation status was determined.
Regression analysis was used to study
differences in BDI scores attributed to mutation
status after adjusting for age, education,
mini-mental state examination, and subjective
memory function.
PS1 mutation carriers had a higher score than
non-carriers on the BDI (14.4 versus 6.5) and
24% of mutation carriers and 12.5% of
non-carriers had previously contacted a
psychiatric professional for help. Mutation
carriers also tended to perform less well than
non-carriers on several neuropsychological
tests.
These findings show that PS1 mutation status can
be considered to be, at least in women, a
predictor of BDI scores and that depressive
symptoms can occur early in the process of PS1
linked Alzheimer's disease. Therefore it is
highly recommended that people developing a
neurodegenerative illness should receive
antidepressant treatment. Ringman
JM, Diaz-Olavarrieta, Rodriguez Y, Chavez M, Paz
F, Murrell J, Angel Macias M, Hill M, Kawas C.
Female preclinical presenilin-1 mutation
carriers unaware of their genetic status have
higher levels of depression than their
non-mutation carrying kin. J Neurol Neurosurg
Psychiatry 75: 500-502, 2004