Vidovič Eva, Pelikan Sebastian, Atanasova Marija, Kouter Katarina, Pileckyte Indre, Oblak Aleš, Novak Šarotar Brigita, Videtič Paska Alja, Bon Jurij
University Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana, 1260 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2023 Sep 6;45(9):7286-7303. doi: 10.3390/cimb45090461.
Depression and anxiety are common mental disorders that often occur together. Stress is an important risk factor for both disorders, affecting pathophysiological processes through epigenetic changes that mediate gene-environment interactions. In this study, we explored two proposed models about the dynamic nature of DNA methylation in anxiety and depression: a stable change, in which DNA methylation accumulates over time as a function of the duration of clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression, or a flexible change, in which DNA methylation correlates with the acute severity of clinical symptoms. Symptom severity was assessed using clinical questionnaires for anxiety and depression (BDI-II, IDS-C, and HAM-A), and the current episode and the total lifetime symptom duration was obtained from patients' medical records. Peripheral blood DNA methylation levels were determined for the , , and genes. We found a significant negative correlation between amplicon methylation and acute symptom scores, with BDI-II ((22) = 0.190, = 0.033), IDS-C ((22) = 0.199, = 0.029), and HAM-A ((22) = 0.231, = 0.018) all showing a similar degree of correlation. Our results suggest that DNA methylation follows flexible dynamics, with methylation levels closely associated with acute clinical presentation rather than with the duration of anxiety and depression. These results provide important insights into the dynamic nature of DNA methylation in anxiety and affective disorders and contribute to our understanding of the complex interplay between stress, epigenetics, and individual phenotype.
抑郁症和焦虑症是常见的精神障碍，常常同时出现。压力是这两种疾病的重要风险因素，通过介导基因 - 环境相互作用的表观遗传变化影响病理生理过程。在本研究中，我们探讨了关于焦虑症和抑郁症中DNA甲基化动态性质的两种假设模型：一种是稳定变化，即DNA甲基化随着焦虑症和抑郁症临床症状持续时间的延长而随时间积累；另一种是灵活变化，即DNA甲基化与临床症状的急性严重程度相关。使用焦虑症和抑郁症的临床问卷（BDI-II、IDS-C和HAM-A）评估症状严重程度，并从患者病历中获取当前发作情况和终身症状总持续时间。测定了外周血中 、 和 基因的DNA甲基化水平。我们发现 扩增子甲基化与急性症状评分之间存在显著负相关，BDI-II（(22) = 0.190， = 0.033）、IDS-C（(22) = 0.199， = 0.029）和HAM-A（(22) = 0.231， = 0.018）均显示出相似程度的相关性。我们的结果表明，DNA甲基化遵循灵活的动态变化，甲基化水平与急性临床表现密切相关，而非与焦虑症和抑郁症的持续时间相关。这些结果为焦虑症和情感障碍中DNA甲基化的动态性质提供了重要见解，并有助于我们理解压力、表观遗传学和个体表型之间的复杂相互作用。
