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Depression and Huntington's disease: prevalence, clinical manifestations, etiology, and treatment

J R Slaughter1, M P Martens, K A Slaughter

  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.

CNS Spectrums
|August 23, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Depression affects 30% of Huntington

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Psychiatry
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.
  • Depression is a common and serious complication in HD patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the prevalence, clinical manifestations, and treatment of depression in Huntington's disease.
  • To synthesize current literature on HD-associated depression.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature search of MEDLINE and bibliographies of HD articles.
  • Analysis of 16 identified studies on depression in Huntington's disease.

Main Results:

  • The prevalence of depression in Huntington's disease patients is 30%.
  • Clinical manifestations include an increased risk of suicide.
  • Potential etiological factors include caudate nucleus and ventral striatum dysfunction, and genetic factors.

Conclusions:

  • Standard antidepressant interventions, including tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and electroconvulsive therapy, are supported by case reports.
  • Sertraline shows promise as a safe and effective treatment for depression in Huntington's disease, based on anecdotal evidence.

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