Role of shared genetic and environmental factors in symptoms of depression and body composition

Background Both obesity and lean mass have been correlated with symptoms of depression. Objective To investigate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors in the cooccurrence of obesity and lean mass with symptoms of depression. Methods Individuals were 2383 participants of the Erasmus Rucphen Family study. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Anthropometric and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry total body scans were obtained for the assessment of body composition. The role of shared genetic and shared environmental factors was quantified by estimating genetic and environmental correlations between symptoms of depression and measures of body composition. Results Phenotypic correlations between body composition and symptoms of depression ranged from - 0.08 to 0.08. Heritability estimates for body composition ranged from 0.40 to 0.46 (P<0.001) in women and from 0.35 to 0.51 (P<0.001) in men, and heritability estimates for depression scores were higher in women (0.34 and 0.37) than in men (0.13 and 0.21). No consistent genetic correlations between measures of body composition and symptoms of depression were found. We did find a significant consistent environmental correlation between depression scores and lean mass index (environmental correlation = - 0.23 for Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and - 0.31 For Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Conclusion In our study, there is no evidence that the cooccurrence of symptoms of depression and body composition result from a common genetic Dathway. Psychiatr Genet 19:32-38

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