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. 2013 Oct;47(10):1423-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.05.026. Epub 2013 Jun 19.

Characterization of depression in prodromal Huntington disease in the neurobiological predictors of HD (PREDICT-HD) study

Eric A Epping  1 , James A Mills, Leigh J Beglinger, Jess G Fiedorowicz, David Craufurd, Megan M Smith, Mark Groves, Kelly R Bijanki, Nancy Downing, Janet K Williams, Jeffrey D Long, Jane S Paulsen; PREDICT-HD Investigators and Coordinators of the Huntington Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Characterization of depression in prodromal Huntington disease in the neurobiological predictors of HD (PREDICT-HD) study

Eric A Epping et al. J Psychiatr Res. 2013 Oct.

Abstract

Depression causes significant morbidity and mortality, and this also occurs in Huntington Disease (HD), an inherited neurodegenerative illness with motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms. The presentation of depression in this population remains poorly understood, particularly in the prodromal period before development of significant motor symptoms. In this study, we assessed depressive symptoms in a sample of 803 individuals with the HD mutation in the prodromal stage and 223 mutation-negative participants at the time of entry in the Neurobiological Predictors of HD (PREDICT-HD) study. Clinical and biological HD variables potentially related to severity of depression were analyzed. A factor analysis was conducted to characterize the symptom domains of depression in a subset (n=168) with clinically significant depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were found to be more prevalent in HD mutation carriers but did not increase with proximity to HD diagnosis and were not associated with length of the HD mutation. Increased depressive symptoms were significantly associated with female gender, self-report of past history of depression, and a slight decrease in functioning, but not with time since genetic testing. The factor analysis identified symptom domains similar to prior studies in other populations. These results show that individuals with the HD mutation are at increased risk to develop depressive symptoms at any time during the HD prodrome. The clinical presentation appears to be similar to other populations. Severity and progression are not related to the HD mutation.

Keywords: Depression; Genetic testing; Huntington disease; Suicide.

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Figures

Figure 1A
Figure 1A
BDI-II Depression Severity (BDI-II > 13 indicating clinically significant symptoms) in HD CAG-Expansion Negatives and HD CAG-Expanded Individuals by CAG-Age Product (CAP) Group. Chi-square statistic for BDI > 13 between all expansion positive versus expansion negative = 30.7, p < 0.001.
Figure 1B
Figure 1B
BDI-II Severity (mild, moderate, or severe) in CAG-Expansion Negatives and CAG-Expanded Individuals by CAG-Age Product (CAP) Group. The percentages within each CAP group and the expansion negative group add up to the percent with BDI-II > 13 in Figure 1A (white bars).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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