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Study Description

Identification of genomic regions that confer susceptibility to or protection from major depressive disorder (MDD) via genomewide association.

Consent groups and participant set

  • Psychiatric and Related Somatic Conditions (PRSC): 3741 (1821 cases, 1822 controls, 98 others)

Authorized Access
Publicly Available Data (Public ftp)
Study Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria
Case selection:

MDD cases were recruited through mental health care organizations, general practices and in the community setting (for details see Boomsma et al. 2007; in press). The inclusion criteria for the 1780 participants are: 1) a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder as confirmed by the CIDI psychiatric interview, 2) an age between 18 through 65 years, 3) sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language, and 4) North-european ancestry. As the samples should be representative of patients seen in different settings, there are few a priori exclusion criteria. Excluded patients are: 1) those with a primary diagnosis of psychosis, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, severe addiction disorder and 2) those with insufficient knowledge of the Dutch language.

Control selection:

For age and gender matched control subjects are mainly derived from the Netherlands Twin Register, for which data collection in twin, their parents, spouses and siblings occurred in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002/3 and 2004/5. A total of 1860 controls were selected (only one member from each family) with the following inclusion criteria: 1) age 18 through 65 years, 2) never scoring high (> 0.65) on a general factor score for anxious depression (a combined measure of neuroticism, anxiety and depressive symptoms via questionnaires, Boomsma et al., 2000), 3) never reported a history of MDD in any survey, and 4) North-european ancestry. Controls and their parents were born in the Netherlands or northwestern Europe.

Molecular Data
TypeSourcePlatformNumber of Oligos/SNPsSNP Batch IdComment
Whole Genome Genotyping Perlegen PERLEGEN-600K 599171 38687
Selected Publications
Diseases/Traits Related to Study (MeSH terms)
Links to Related Resources
Authorized Data Access Requests
Study Attribution
  • Lead Prinicipal Investigator
    • Patrick F. Sullivan. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
  • Co-Investigators
    • Dorret I. Boomsma. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Brenda W.J.H. Penninx. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Eco J.C.N. de Geus. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Gonneke Willemsen. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Witte J.G. Hoogendijk. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • Institutions
    • The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
    • Vrije Universiteit and Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.