Kendler Kenneth S, Gatz Margaret, Gardner Charles O, Pedersen Nancy L
Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0126, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;163(1):109-14. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.1.109.
Substantial evidence supports the heritability of lifetime major depression. Less clear is whether genetic influences in major depression are more important in women than in men and whether genetic risk factors are the same in the two sexes. It is not known whether genetic effects on major depression are constant across historical cohorts.
Lifetime major depression was assessed at personal interview by modified DSM-IV criteria in 42,161 twins, including 15,493 complete pairs, from the national Swedish Twin Registry. Twin models were evaluated by using the program Mx.
Model fitting indicated that the heritability of liability to major depression was significantly higher in women (42%) than men (29%) and the genetic risk factors for major depression were moderately correlated in men and women. No significant differences were seen in the etiologic roles of genetic and environmental factors in major depression in three cohorts spanning birth years 1900-1958.
In the largest sample to date, lifetime major depression was moderately heritable, with estimates similar to those in prior studies. In accord with some but not other previous investigations, this study suggests both that the heritability of major depression is higher in women than in men and that some genetic risk factors for major depression are sex-specific in their effect. No evidence was found for differences in the roles of genetic and environmental risk factors in major depression in birth cohorts spanning nearly six decades.
大量证据支持终生重度抑郁症具有遗传性。但尚不清楚重度抑郁症的遗传影响在女性中是否比在男性中更重要，以及两性的遗传风险因素是否相同。目前尚不清楚遗传因素对重度抑郁症的影响在不同历史队列中是否恒定。
通过改良的DSM-IV标准，对来自瑞典国家双胞胎登记处的42161对双胞胎（包括15493对完整双胞胎）进行个人访谈，评估终生重度抑郁症。使用Mx程序评估双胞胎模型。
模型拟合表明，女性患重度抑郁症的遗传度（42%）显著高于男性（29%），且重度抑郁症的遗传风险因素在男性和女性中呈中度相关。在出生年份跨度为1900 - 1958年的三个队列中，遗传和环境因素在重度抑郁症病因中的作用未见显著差异。
在迄今为止最大的样本中，终生重度抑郁症具有中度遗传性，估计值与先前研究相似。与一些但并非其他先前的调查一致，本研究表明，重度抑郁症的遗传度在女性中高于男性，且一些重度抑郁症的遗传风险因素在其作用上具有性别特异性。在出生队列跨度近六十年的研究中，未发现遗传和环境风险因素在重度抑郁症中的作用存在差异的证据。
