Association between miR-27a rs895819 Polymorphism and Antidepressant Treatment Response in Patients with Depression

Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder. miR-27a regulates neuronal development. This study aimed to investigate the association between the miR-27a rs895819 polymorphism and antidepressant treatment response in patients with depression.

The expression level of miR-27a was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The genotype of rs895819 was performed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The condition of patients was evaluated by a 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) (reduction rate = [HAMD-17 baseline - HAMD-17 8 weeks]/HAMD-17 baseline × 100%). Effective response was defined as a reduction rate of ≥50%. Remission was defined as HAMD-17 ≤17. The association between SNP and depression risk was calculated by the χ2 test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of SNP on antidepressant treatment response.

There were 173 patients with depression and 186 healthy controls. rs895819 was negatively correlated with depression under CC versus TT (p = 0.044, OR = 0.412, 95% CI = 0.170-0.996), CC + TC versus TT (OR = 0.607, 95% CI = 0.397-0.927), and C versus T (OR = 0.633, 95% CI = 0.448-0.896) models. miR-27a expression was significantly decreased in individuals with TC/CC genotypes than TT genotypes. rs895819 (TC/CC) was positively correlated with the effective response (p = 0.005, OR = 2.551, 95% CI = 1.322-4.920).

rs895819 TC/CC genotypes were significantly correlated with depression and associated with increased effective response.