Washington : A new study has observed that people who suffer from psychiatric disorders are at a higher risk to suffer from ageing-related diseases, reports ANI.
The study showed that both ageing and depression are associated with changes in the FKBP5 gene. Genes can be regulated by the addition or removal of methyl (CH3) groups to an area of the gene.
The researchers found that ageing can decrease this methylation process, causing the FKBP5 gene to be over expressed. They also found that when someone is depressed, this demethylation process is accelerated even further.
Lead researcher, Dr Anthony Zannas (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich), asserted that they found that both aging and depression seemed to lead to changes in how DNA was processed, and that this could control the expression of genes that regulate how they responded to stress.
Zannas added that these changes were associated with increased inflammation, and they believed that this may lead to the increased risk for several aging-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders, that had been observed in chronically stressed and depressed individuals.
Professor Bill Deakin (Manchester) said that there was a growing realisation that depression was one expression of a set of vulnerabilities for a range of disorders associated with age including obesity, diabetes, cerebro-vascular disease and dementia
“Our work shows that risk for ageing-related diseases could be conferred by epigenetic changes of stress-related genes and resultant increases in the expression of inflammation markers. “It’s too early to say that we are seeing a cause and effect, so we need to confirm the findings by using larger samples and uncover the mechanisms using animal models,” Zannas said, reports PTI.