There is a possible link between a specific genetic variation and an increased risk for severe premenstrual depression, as per scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of Mental Health.

This psychiatric condition, known as a premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, is considered to affect approximately 8 percent of women in their childbearing years and is featured by severe irritability and anxiety during second half of the menstrual cycle.

From News-Medical.Net:

Compared to the control group, women with PMDD were significantly more likely to have the ESR1 gene variants, the study found.

“While these are preliminary findings that require replication in larger studies, we would argue that this may explain part of the variance among women in the susceptibility to developing this mood disorder,” Rubinow said. “Studies have shown that PMDD is characterized by abnormal sensitivity to reproductive steroids like estrogen. As a receptor for the hormone that can trigger the onset of PMDD symptoms, ESR1 has clear physiologic relevance for this disorder.”

The authors acknowledge that as with other complex genetic disorders, the contribution to PMDD of polymorphisms in a single gene may not be large. In addition, they also noted that the findings may be telling us more about the control group.

Dr. David R. Rubinow, the study’s senior author and the Meymandi distinguished professor and chair of psychiatry at UNC School of Medicine, remarked that this study could help in obtaining important clues as to how some women suffer from mood changes while others do not besides finding the nature of that susceptibility.

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