Al-Anni E. Genealogic and cytogenetic characters of depression in children and adolescents

A hereditary burden on mental diseases has been registered in 66.0 %, and on depressive disorders in 56.0 % of the families under investigation. Family accumulation of mental and noninfectious diseases in the genealogy of patients with depressions has been established in the study. Hereditary transmission of pathological symptoms in a number of generations of probands with depressive disorders took place 1.8 more often on the maternal than on the paternal line, and it was 3.6 more frequent than on both lines simultaneously. The contribution of genetic components in the formation of depressive disorders in children and adolescents is 65.5%, environmental - 34.5%. A more than fourfold increase in the spontaneous level of chromosomal aberrations has been registered in our patients as compared with their healthy age-mates, indicating destabilization of the genome in probands with the disease. A significant rise in chromosomal anomalies level, related with gender and hereditary burden on mental diseases, has been registered in patients with depression. An increase in the total level of chromosomal aberrations after an additional mutagenous load in vitro on the peripheral blood lymphocytes was demonstrated both in children and adolescents with depression and in their healthy age-mates. A latent chromosomal instability in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of probands with the disease has also been estimated in the study. Some informative prognostic symptoms for revealing persons of high risk as regards disorders in the chromosomal apparatus in children and adolescents with depressive disorders have been defined. The effectiveness of the proposed prognostic signs comes to 84.8 %.