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Common Genetic Risk of Major Depression and Nicotine Dependence: The Contribution of Antisocial Traits in a United States Veteran Male Twin Cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Qiang Fu ,
Andrew C. Heath ,
Kathleen K. Bucholz ,
Michael J. Lyons ,
Ming T. Tsuang ,
William R. True  and
Seth A. Eisen
Qiang Fu*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health, St. Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America; Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America. [email protected]
Andrew C. Heath
Affiliation:
Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
Kathleen K. Bucholz
Affiliation:
Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
Michael J. Lyons
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Ming T. Tsuang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America.
William R. True
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health, St. Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America; Research and Medical Service, St. Louis VAMC, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
Seth A. Eisen
Affiliation:
Research and Medical Service, St. Louis VAMC, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America; Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
*
*Address for correspondence: Qiang Fu, Department of Community Health, School of Public Health, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.

Abstract

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Many studies that found associations between depression and nicotine dependence have ignored possible shared genetic influences associated with antisocial traits. The present study examined the contribution of genetic and environmental effects associated with conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) to the comorbidity of major depression (MD) and nicotine dependence (ND). A telephone diagnostic interview, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule-III-R, was administered to eligible twins from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry in 1992. Multivariate genetic models were fitted to 3360 middle-aged and predominantly white twin pairs (1868 monozygotic, 1492 dizygotic pairs) of which both members completed the pertinent diagnostic interview sections. Genetic influences on CD accounted for 100%, 68%, and 50% of the total genetic variance in risk for ASPD, MD and ND, respectively. After controlling for genetic influences on CD, the partial genetic correlation between MD and ND was no longer statistically significant. Nonshared environmental contributions to the comorbidity among these disorders were not significant. This study not only demonstrates that the comorbidity between ND and MD is influenced by common genetic risk factors, but also further suggests that the common genetic risk factors overlapped with those for antisocial traits such as CD and ASPD in men.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , 01 June 2007 , pp. 470 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007