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Objectives: In ageing population, both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depression are common. Significant depressive symptoms are often co-morbid with cognitive impairment and dementia. In this study, we attempted to find various factors and markers for both AD and depression in a longitudinal cohort, the Vienna-Transdanube-Aging (VITA)-study., Methods: The VITA-Study consisted of 305 healthy subjects, 174 subjects with depression only, 55 subjects diagnosed with AD only and 72 subjects with depression as well as AD. Associations between AD and/or depression to gene polymorphisms APO E (epsilon4), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) 4G to A, serotonin-transporter gene promoter-length, dopamine-D4-receptor, ciliary-neurotrophic-factor-null mutation and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (C270T) and to various known factors were analyzed., Results: AD and depression were significant associated. Significant risk factors found for AD were low education, low folic acid and depressive-symptoms, while for depression were low education and higher nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) consume. Moreover, the ChAT polymorphism associated significant to depression. Gender, education, and ChAT significantly associated with the combination AD and/or depression., Conclusion: Such studies must be conducted cautiously, as co-morbidities and gene-environmental-social influences may sway the results dramatically. We found in the VITA-study significant association between depression and AD and between ChAT polymorphism and depression.

Background: The site of effect for the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is the serotonin transporter (5-HTT), which is extensively investigated for its involvement in depressive symptoms. The 5-HTT gene exhibits a 5'-promoter-based length polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) that affects the transcription efficiency and activity, known as short (S) and long (L) alleles. We studied the association of this polymorphism in old age and depression in the Vienna Transdanube Aging (VITA) study, excluding subjects with dementia., Method: We used retrospective data from the baseline of the VITA study, which is a cohort study of all inhabitants of a geographical area aged 75 years (N = 544). Depression was diagnosed and classified strictly according to the DSM-IV. To eliminate dementia effects, we excluded subjects with a Clinical Dementia Rating higher than or equal to 1 and/or a Mini-Mental State Examination score lower than 24. Genotyping for the 5-HTTLPR L/S allele was conducted using polymerase chain reaction methodology., Results: We found significantly higher SS genotype frequency in all subjects with past/ present depression compared to controls (trend test, p = .01). The SS genotype frequency was especially high in subjects with onset of depression before age 65. No correlations were found between genotypes/S allele carriers and actual Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Short-Geriatric Depression Scale, and anxiety scale scores., Conclusions: These observations of higher frequency of the 5-HTTLPR S allele in subjects with past/present depression fit with previous findings and point to the important role of 5-HTT in depression.