Why women are more likely to suffer from depression

Researchers from the KIMR Berghofer Institute for Medical Research (Australia) have identified important genetic differences that explain why depression manifests itself differently in women and men. The results of the world's largest DNA analysis of people with depression have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists have found that genetic factors have a stronger influence on the risk of depression in women than in men. The analysis showed: women were found to have almost twice as many genetic variations associated with the disease.

"We have long known that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men," explained Dr Brittany Mitchell, lead researcher at the QIMR Berghofer Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory. - 'But until now there has been no systematic evidence to explain why the disease manifests itself differently, including at the level of genetics.'

The team found around 13,000 changes in DNA that could affect the development of depression: around 7,000 are specific to both sexes and a further 6,000 are exclusive to women.

According to Dr Jodi Thomas, co-author of the paper, these differences may explain why depression in women is more likely to be accompanied by metabolic symptoms - changes in body weight, sleep or energy levels.

The scientists also noted that in women, genes responsible for depression overlap more strongly with genes affecting metabolism, which may explain the increased sensitivity to physiological changes in psychiatric disorders.

The study was the largest project in history to examine depression in relation to gender. It involved hundreds of thousands of people around the world - including about 130,000 women and 65,000 men suffering from depression.

"The genetic differences we have identified are not related to life experiences - they are inherited traits that a person is born with," Dr Mitchell stressed.

Until now, most clinical research and drug trials have been conducted predominantly on men, making it difficult to understand the specifics of female depression. The scientists hope their findings will help develop new, more accurate and personalised treatments.

"When we study common and unique genetic factors in men and women, we begin to better understand what exactly causes depression. This opens the door to personalised therapies that take into account biological differences between the sexes," Dr Thomas noted.

The authors emphasised that their findings have been made publicly available so that other researchers can use them to make further discoveries in the field of psychiatric genetics.