Identification of genetic risk loci for depression and migraine comorbidity in Han Chinese residing in Taiwan

Ming-Chen Tsai; Chia-Lin Tsai; Chih-Sung Liang; Yu-Kai Lin; Guan-Yu Lin; Chia-Kuang Tsai; Po-Kuan Yeh; Yi Liu; Kuo-Sheng Hung; Fu-Chi Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1067503

Identification of genetic risk loci for depression and migraine comorbidity in Han Chinese residing in Taiwan

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 10:13:1067503. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1067503. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ming-Chen Tsai¹, Chia-Lin Tsai¹, Chih-Sung Liang², Yu-Kai Lin¹, Guan-Yu Lin^{1

3}, Chia-Kuang Tsai¹, Po-Kuan Yeh^{1

2}, Yi Liu¹, Kuo-Sheng Hung⁴, Fu-Chi Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.
² Department of Psychiatry, Beitou Branch, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.
³ Department of Neurology, Songshan Branch, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁴ Center for Precision Medicine and Genomics, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Introduction: The genetic association between depression and migraine has not been well investigated in Asian populations. Furthermore, the genetic basis of depression and comorbid migraine subtypes remains nebulous. Hence, in the current study we investigate the susceptibility loci associated with depression and migraine comorbidity in the Han Chinese population in Taiwan.

Methods: We perform a genome-wide association study involving 966 migraine patients, with or without comorbid depression. Genotyping is performed using participant genomic DNA. Association analyses are performed for the entire migraine cohort (subgroups: episodic migraine, chronic migraine, and migraine with or without aura).

Results: Results show that the single nucleotide polymorphism variants of the CDH4 intron region (rs78063755), NTRK3-AS1 downstream region (rs57729223), and between LINC01918 and GPR45 (rs2679891) are suggestively associated with depression. Twenty additional susceptibility loci occur within the subgroups. A multivariate association study demonstrated that a variant in the intron region of CDH4 rs78063755 was associated with Beck Depression Inventory and Migraine Disability Assessment scores.

Discussion: The findings of this study identify several genetic loci suggestively associated with depression among migraine patients in the Han Chinese population. Moreover, a potential genetic basis has been characterized for depression and migraine comorbidity, thus providing genetic candidates for further investigation.

Keywords: Han Chinese; depression; genetic variant; migraine; single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP); susceptibility loci.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, grant numbers (MOST 108-2314-B-016-023- and MOST 110-2314-B-016-036-MY2), Tri-Service General Hospital, Taiwan (grant numbers TSGH-D-109101, TSGH-D-110048, TSGH-C111-091, TSGH-B-110011, and TSGH-B-111017), and Academia Sinica (grant numbers AS-40-05-GMM and AS-GC-110-MD02).