Genetic Variations of Ionotropic Glutamate Receptor Pathways on Interferon-α-induced Depression in Patients with Hepatitis C Viral Infection

The most supportive evidence of the inflammation theory of depression is that up to one-third of patients with Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) develop clinical depressive episodes during interferon-α (IFN-α) therapy. As glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity has been found to be a consequence of excessive inflammation and a pathogenic mechanism of depression, it is plausible to investigate genes on ionotropic glutamate receptor pathways. To...