New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Nearly 300 new genetic risk factors for depression have been identified in an analysis of more than five million people from 29 countries.

About a third of these newly discovered genetic variations -- small differences in the DNA sequence making up a gene -- were found due to including people of African, East Asian, Hispanic and South Asian descent in the study, researchers from the 'Psychiatric Genomics Consortium', led by those at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and King's College London, UK, said.

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One in four individuals included in the "world's largest and most diverse" genetic study, published in the journal 'Cell', were from non-European ancestries.

Each identified genetic variant is known to contribute to one's overall risk of developing depression, with multiple such variants potentially adding up and increasing the risk.

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Previous studies looking into the genetics of psychiatric illnesses, including depression, are known to have focussed largely on people with European ancestry.

Therefore, treatments developed from these studies may not be effective in people from other ethnicities, widening existing health inequalities, the researchers said.

"While depression is a growing major health issue, we lack the insights needed to better treat and prevent it," researcher Dr Brittany Mitchell, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Australia, said.

"Larger, more inclusive studies like this will help us develop better treatments and interventions, ultimately improving lives and reducing the global impact of the condition. It will also reinforce the evidence that mental health conditions are as biologically based as other conditions like heart disease," she said.

The genetic risk factors identified in the study were related to neurons from multiple brain regions, including those involved in controlling emotions.

The findings offered new insights into how depression affects one's brain and present possible new targets for treatment, the researchers said.

The team also involved scientists from countries including South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Taiwan and China.

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