New research has found that people with genetic risk for depression have a greater chance of developing certain types of heart disease, pointing to the opportunity for dual-purpose prevention and treatment strategies targeting both diseases.
The research by Deakin University’s Food & Mood Centre found that a genetic risk for depression increased people’s chance of developing coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and elevated triglycerides by between 10% to 13%.
Research lead Tabinda Jabeen said depression and heart and metabolism-related diseases, collectively known as cardiometabolic diseases, are often experienced together.
‘But the mechanisms driving the link between depression and cardiometabolic diseases are not well-understood,’ Mrs Jabeen said.
‘Whether the association is due to environmental factors such as poor diet and lifestyle factors or due to genetic factors needed further investigation,’ Mrs Jabeen said.
‘These findings identify the genetic risk involved in the association from depression to cardiometabolic diseases, separate to the contribution of lifestyle and other environmental risk factors.’
‘Significantly, the research found that while depression increases the risk of certain types of heart disease, the opposite isn’t necessarily true, which takes us a step further in understanding the complex relationship between both diseases,’ Mrs Jabeen said.
The research reviewed 79 published “Mendelian randomisation” studies which use the way genes are randomly inherited in a person to see if one disease is a risk factor for or causes another. Data from 21 of these studies was pooled further to see what the overall evidence suggests.
Results of the study, published today in eClinicalMedicine point to the need for integrated and inter-disciplinary care for people with depression to prevent comorbidities in vulnerable populations.
Senior author, Food & Mood Centre’s Professor Adrienne O’Neil, said it was usual for GPs to ask about recent history of mental health when conducting a heart check with their patients.
‘We’ve long known that mental conditions like depression can increase the risk of a cardiometabolic event like a heart attack or stroke, but whether this relationship was causal or explained by other factors like environment or lifestyle was less understood.
‘These findings provide the evidence of a genetic basis for the relationship and suggest we consider intervening earlier in the lifespan by treating depression as a way of preventing cardiometabolic conditions in later life,’ Professor O’Neil said.
While research for gene therapies is in its early stages, the findings point to the possibility of using gene therapies as potential preventative and risk-reduction strategies for people with depression-related cardiometabolic conditions.
