Epigenetic age analysis of brain in major depressive disorder

Zongchang Li; Ying He; Xiaoqian Ma; Xiaogang Chen

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.09.001

Epigenetic age analysis of brain in major depressive disorder

Psychiatry Res. 2018 Nov:269:621-624. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.09.001. Epub 2018 Sep 6.

Authors

Zongchang Li¹, Ying He², Xiaoqian Ma², Xiaogang Chen³

Affiliations

¹ Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Chinese National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Chinese National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; Center for Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
² Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Chinese National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Chinese National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
³ Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Chinese National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Chinese National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; Center for Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China. Electronic address: chenxiaogang@csu.edu.cn.

PMID: 30208351
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.09.001

Abstract

A large body of evidence indicates major depressive disorder (MDD) associated with biological aging acceleration. In this study, we aim to assess epigenetic aging in different prefrontal sub-regions and cell types from postmortem tissues in MDD by using two public methylation datasets (subjects are 40 and 58 respectively). Results showed that brain epigenetic age has a strong correlation with chronological age in both datasets. However, there are no significant differences in epigenetic aging acceleration between MDD and controls in all prefrontal sub-regions and cell types. In conclusion, this study provides evidence against epigenetic aging acceleration in the brain in MDD.

Keywords: Brain; Epigenetic age; Major depressive disorder.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging / genetics*
Aging / psychology*
Brain / pathology
Brain / physiology*
DNA Methylation / genetics
Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis
Depressive Disorder, Major / genetics*
Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology*
Epigenesis, Genetic / genetics*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Young Adult