"Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects nearly twice as many women as it does men, but the biological reasons for this disparity are elusive. Writing in Nature Communications, Thomas et al. report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) - an approach for finding links between genetic variations and observable traits - that includes almost 200,000 men and women with MDD."
"The researchers' findings begin to unpick the genetic risk factors that are shared (or not) between men and women, and to explain why subtypes of MDD with metabolic symptoms, such as changes in weight, affect women more than men. Importantly, the results highlight how sex-stratified genetic analyses can help scientists to understand the sex-specific pathology of MDD, which is necessary for guiding more-precise treatments in the future."
A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in almost 200,000 people with major depressive disorder identifies sex differences in genetic risk. Women show a greater number of genetic risk variants for MDD than men and stronger genetic correlations with metabolic traits. Subtypes of MDD characterized by metabolic symptoms, such as weight changes, show higher genetic overlap in women, which may contribute to higher prevalence of MDD among women. Sex-stratified genetic analyses reveal partly distinct genetic architectures for MDD in men and women and can inform development of more-precise, sex-specific treatments. Male/female categories were used while acknowledging sex and gender are not strictly binary.
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