Energy Expression of genes related to Major Depressive Disorder in Data from both the Allen Human Brain Atlas and the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas

Background and Objective: The expression of certain genes may increase the risk of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Identifying early gene expression in the brain could serve as a biological marker to improve diagnosis and treatment. However, before assessing how these genes are expressed in individuals with MDD, it is essential to understand their expression patterns in individuals without MDD. This study aims to explore how genes associated with MDD are expressed in the whole brains of donors without the disorder. Methods: We analyzed the expression of 18 MDD-related genes previously identified in meta-analyses, using donor data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (2010). After determining the expression profiles of each gene, we conducted a coexpression network analysis to examine the relationship between these genes in the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas (2004). This step was performed to confirm whether these genes exhibit similar expression patterns in another model frequently used in psychiatric genetics research. Results: No clear relationship was found between the expression of the selected MDD-related genes, suggesting a high variability of expression among individuals. This variability may reflect the heterogeneous nature of MDD and the complexity of its genetic markers. Conclusion: Although gene expression profiles were inconsistent between subjects, whole-brain analysis provides a more holistic and comprehensive view of gene expression across different brain structures. Open-access databases are valuable tools for evaluating previous hypotheses and validating findings, potentially guiding further research in psychiatric genetics.