Elevated level of DNA damage was observed in patients with depression. Furthermore, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of base excision repair (BER) genes may modulate the risk of this disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to delineate the association between DNA damage, DNA repair, the presence of polymorphic variants of BER genes, and occurrence of depression. The study was conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 43 patients diagnosed with depression and 59 controls without mental disorders. Comet assay was used to assess endogenous (oxidative) DNA damage and efficiency of DNA damage repair (DRE). TaqMan probes were employed to genotype 12 SNPs of BER genes. Endogenous DNA damage was higher in the patients than in the controls, but none of the SNPs affected its levels. DRE was significantly higher in the controls and was modulated by BER SNPs, particularly by c.977C>G-hOGG1, c.972G>C-MUTYH, c.2285T>C-PARP1, c.580C>T-XRCC1, c.1196A>G-XRCC1, c.444T>G-APEX1, c.-468T>G-APEX1, or c.*50C>T-LIG3. Our study suggests that both oxidative stress and disorders in DNA damage repair mechanisms contribute to elevated levels of DNA lesions observed in depression. Lower DRE can be partly attributed to the presence of specific SNP variants.
Keywords: Base excision repair; DNA damage; DNA repair; Oxidative stress; Recurrent depression disorder; Single nucleotide polymorphism.