Zeitschrift für Depression und Angst
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Influence of Childhood Physical Neglect on Depression: Potential Moderation by a Polymorphism in the QKI Gene

Leiyu Geng, Yanyan Shi, Zhi Xu, Mengjia Pu, Xiaoli Li, Wenping Li and Zhijun Zhang

 Objective: Childhood physical neglect (CPN) is a common but often overlooked form of abuse that may contribute to depression. We aimed at examining the potential impact of CPN and its interactions with genes related to oligodendrocytes (ODCs) and myelin function on adult depressive symptoms and antidepressant treatment response.

Methods: A group of 209 Chinese Han patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) completed the Hamilton Depression Scale-17 (HAMD-17) at baseline and after 8 weeks antidepressant treatment. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was used to evaluate the occurrence of childhood physical neglect. Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in functional regions were successfully genotyped in seven genes associated with ODCs and myelin function.

Results: childhood physical neglect is related to education and social support, especially the subjective social support of those who experience CPN. The GG genotype of the 3'UTR functional polymorphism rs715020 in the QKI gene showed significant association with diminished effects of childhood physical neglect on adult depressive symptoms(P=.003) even after the Bonferroni correction. No significant interactions between candidate genes and CPN on antidepressant response were observed.

Conclusions: These results indicate that CPN are potentially associated with ODCs and myelin-related gene QKI, and may influence adult depressive symptoms in major depression disorder (MDD) patients. This finding needs to be further replicated in a larger sample.