Biological Determinants of Depression: An epidemiological approach

Abstract

Understanding the biology behind depression has a long history in research. To date, no unique marker or specific etiological factor was detected. However, we know more about the possible mechanisms that predispose depression or affect clinical presentation and prognosis of depression. In this thesis, we studied various hypotheses to extend our knowledge about biological determinants of depression using an epidemiological approach.The main aims of this thesis were1) to scrutinize the determinants and the genetic control of different functions of the HPA axis, a well-known neurohormonal correlate of depression,2) to revisit the vascular depression hypothesis and explored the associations of non-clinical cerebrovascular alterations with depression, and3) to explore genetic etiology of depression using the genome-wide association approach.