Association of premenstrual/menstrual symptoms with perinatal depression and a polymorphic repeat in the polyglutamine tract of the retinoic acid induced 1 gene

作者：Tan Ene Choo^*; Tan Hui San; Chua Tze Ern; Lee Theresa; Ng Jasmine; Ch'ng Ying Chia; Choo Chih Huei; Chen Helen Y

来源：Journal of Affective Disorders, 2014, 161: 43-46.

DOI：10.1016/j.jad.2014.03.006

• Mood symptoms
• Perinatal depression
• Polyglutamine repeats
• RAI1 gene
• Premenstrual/menstrual symptoms

Background: Depression during pregnancy or after childbirth is the most frequent perinatal illness affecting women. We investigated the length distribution of a trinucleotide repeat in RAIL which has not been studied in perinatal depression or in the Chinese population.
Methods: Cases (n=139) with confirmed diagnosis of clinical (major) depression related to pregnancy/postpartum were recruited from the outpatient clinic. Controls were patients who came to the obstetrics clinics and scored < 7 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (n=540). Saliva samples for DNA analysis, demographic information and self reported frequency of occurrence of various premenstrual/menstrual symptoms were collected from all participants. Genomic DNA was extracted from saliva and relevant region sequenced to determine the number of CAG/CAA repeats that encodes the polyglutamine tract in the N terminal of the protein. Difference between groups was assessed by chi-square analysis for categorical variables and analysis of variance for quantitative scores.
Results: Compared to control subjects, patients with perinatal depression reported more frequent mood changes, cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and headache during premenstrual/menstrual periods (p=0.000). For the RAI1 gene CAG/CAA repeat, there was a statistically significant difference in the genotypic distribution between cases and controls (p=0.031). There was also a statistically significant association between the 14-repeat allele and perinatal depression (p=0.016).
Limitations: Family history, previous mental illness, and physical and psychological symptoms during the premenstrual/menstrual periods were self-reported. EPDS screening was done only once for controls.
Conclusions: The RAI1 gene polyglutamine repeat has a different distribution in our population. The 14-repeat allele is associated with perinatal depression and more frequent experience of physical and psychological symptoms during menstrual period.

• 出版日期2014-6-1