Dang Yong-Hui, Li Sheng-Bin, Sun Zhong-Sheng
Department of Forensic Sciences, College of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.
Yi Chuan. 2008 Jun;30(6):665-70. doi: 10.3724/sp.j.1005.2008.00665.
Epigenetics refers to the heritable, but reversible, regulation of various biological functions mediated principally through changes in DNA methylation and chromatin structure derived from histone modification. Recent research indicated that epigenetic mechanisms may play vital role in etiology of major psychosis, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and drug addiction. With brief introduction of epigenetic molecular mechanisms and relevance of epigenetics to human common diseases, this review focuses on epigenetic hypothesis and some supporting evidence which are recently emerged in major depressive disorder (MDD).
表观遗传学是指主要通过DNA甲基化变化和源自组蛋白修饰的染色质结构改变介导的各种生物功能的可遗传但可逆的调控。最近的研究表明，表观遗传机制可能在精神分裂症、双相情感障碍和药物成瘾等主要精神病的病因学中发挥重要作用。在简要介绍表观遗传分子机制以及表观遗传学与人类常见疾病的相关性后，本综述重点关注最近在重度抑郁症（MDD）中出现的表观遗传假说和一些支持证据。
