Folate metabolism genes, dietary folate and response to antidepressant medications in late-life depression

This research by Jamerson et al (2013) wish to discover whether mutations in the folate metabolism pathway predicted the age and occurrence of late life depression, and whether these mutations predicted the response to antidepressant medication. 304 Caucasians were studied in this research, 198 with depression and 106 without. Intake of folate and no folate metabolism SNPs significantly predicted age of onset or occurrence of depression. In patients taking SSRI’s, MTRR A66G was significantly associated with remission, with those carrying the AA genotype 3.2 times more likely to be in remission than those with the GG genotype. The MTHFR A1298C mutation was also shown to be weakly associated with remission. Dietary folate intake or any other folate related mutations were not found to affect onset or response to medication.

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