For Immediate Release
Researchers Examine Role of Gene Variation Linked to Major Depressive Disorder
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, December 5, 2017–A new study assessed the effects of a SLC6A15 gene variant on resting-state brain function in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), comparing the results with those in healthy individuals. Based on the results of genotyping and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain, researchers identified an association between a specific SLC6A15 polymorphism and resting-state brain function in multiple brain regions in patients with MDD, as reported in Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers website until January 5, 2018.
The study by Kerang Zhang and coauthors from the First Hospital and First Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University (Taiyuan, China) focused on patients experiencing their first episode of MDD. The researchers showed differences in hemodynamic activity across various brain regions that correlated with the presence of the SLC6A15 gene variant. They reported an association between genotype and fMRI results of the corpus callosum, cingulum, and the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes in the article entitled "A Combined Study of SLC6A15 Gene Polymorphism and the Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in First-Episode Drug-Naive Major Depressive Disorder."
"This is absolutely bleeding-edge neurogenetics that combines genotyping with both clinical diagnoses and fMRI-defined phenotypes," says Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers Editor-in-Chief Garth D. Ehrlich, PhD, FAAAS, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Executive Director, Center for Genomic Sciences and Center for Advanced Microbial Processing, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel College of Medicine (Philadelphia, PA).
About the Journal
Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 12 times per year online with open access options and in print that reports on all aspects of genetic testing, including molecular and biochemical based tests and varied clinical situations; ethical, legal, social, and economic aspects of genetic testing; and issues concerning effective genetic counseling. Tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed on the Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Human Gene Therapy and OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.