Prolactin receptor gene is linked to and associated with depression and type 2 diabetes comorbidity

What is it about?

Studies have linked variants in the prolactin receptor (PRLR) gene to depression-like behavior and diabetes in preclinical models, and prolonged breastfeeding has been associated with reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether the PRLR gene plays a role in the familial comorbidity of depression and type 2 diabetes. In 212 Italian families phenotyped for depression and type 2 diabetes, we investigated 41 microarray-based single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PRLR gene. We found a total of 13 risk variants significantly linked/in linkage-disequilibrium to/with T2D and/or MDD, including six risk variants significantly linked/in LD to/with both MDD and T2D, three of which have concordant risk alleles. All of these risk variants are novel and were not previously reported in MDD, T2D, or another related phenotype.

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Why is it important?

This is the first study to link the PRLR gene to the risk of morbidity and comorbidity of depression and type 2 diabetes.