title: Serotonin gene polymorphisms and lifetime mood disorders in predicting interferon-induced depression in chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  IFN-induced depression is a suitable model for investigating vulnerability to depression. We aimed at investigating the role of two vulnerability factors, lifetime mood disorder (LMD) and 5-HT-related gene polymorphisms in treated patients with infection by Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Depressive symptoms of 130 consecutive HCV patients with no current psychopathology were measured during treatment with interferon and ribavirin. At baseline, LMD and 3 genotypes (5-HTTLPR, HTR1A, and TPH2) were also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subgroups of 43 patients with LMD, 96 with HTR1A-G allele, and 12 with both LMD and HTR1A-G homozigosity scored significantly higher to depression compared to the remaining patients during antiviral therapy. At the multiple regression analysis, LMD and HTR1A-G, whether separately or combined together, explained a similar amount of 10-22% of depression score variance, after controlling for the associated variables (age and gender).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV patients referred to a tertiary care center are not representative of all patients with chronic hepatitis C. Mediating factors, including proinflammatory cytokines and other potentially relevant gene polymorphisms, could not be evaluated. Patients were not stratified by degree of liver inflammation. LMD diagnoses were not cross-checked with medical records and IFN-induced depression was measured with a self-report scale only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  History of mood disorders and HTR1A G allele variation, the C-1019G polymorphism of the transcriptional control region of the 5-HT1A receptor, independently predicted the incidence of IFN-induced depression in HCV patients, whether separately or jointly considered and although not reciprocally associated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology 1, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cozzolongo
authors.affiliation: Psychosomatic Unit, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy. Electronic address: piero.porcelli@irccsdebellis.it.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Porcelli
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetic Unit, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: Filomena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cariola
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology 1, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Giannuzzi
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pathology Unit, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lanzilotta
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetic Unit, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Genetics, National Research Council, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sonnante
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology 1, Scientific Institute for Digestive Disease 'S. de Bellis' Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy; Department of Liver and Digestive Health, University College of London, UK.
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leandro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003863:Depression / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044282:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A / Q000235:genetics*; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; C583518:HTR1A protein, human; D016898:Interferon-alpha; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D044282:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A; C494784:TPH2 protein, human; D014365:Tryptophan Hydroxylase
keywords: Depression; Genetic; Hepatitis C Virus; Interferon-α