scholarly journals Polygenetic Risk Scores for Major Psychiatric Disorders Among Schizophrenia Patients, Their First-Degree Relatives, and Healthy Participants

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutaka Ohi ◽  
Daisuke Nishizawa ◽  
Takamitsu Shimada ◽  
Yuzuru Kataoka ◽  
Junko Hasegawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
First Degree Relatives

Abstract Background The genetic etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) overlaps with that of other major psychiatric disorders in samples of European ancestry. The present study investigated transethnic polygenetic features shared between Japanese SCZ or their unaffected first-degree relatives and European patients with major psychiatric disorders by conducting polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses. Methods To calculate PRSs for 5 psychiatric disorders (SCZ, bipolar disorder [BIP], major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and PRSs differentiating SCZ from BIP, we utilized large-scale European genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets as discovery samples. PRSs derived from these GWASs were calculated for 335 Japanese target participants [SCZ patients, FRs, and healthy controls (HCs)]. We took these PRSs based on GWASs of European psychiatric disorders and investigated their effect on risk in Japanese SCZ patients and unaffected first-degree relatives. Results The PRSs obtained from European SCZ and BIP patients were higher in Japanese SCZ patients than in HCs. Furthermore, PRSs differentiating SCZ patients from European BIP patients were higher in Japanese SCZ patients than in HCs. Interestingly, PRSs related to European autism spectrum disorder were lower in Japanese first-degree relatives than in HCs or SCZ patients. The PRSs of autism spectrum disorder were positively correlated with a young onset age of SCZ. Conclusions These findings suggest that polygenic factors related to European SCZ and BIP and the polygenic components differentiating SCZ from BIP can transethnically contribute to SCZ risk in Japanese people. Furthermore, we suggest that reduced levels of an ASD-related genetic factor in unaffected first-degree relatives may help protect against SCZ development.

scholarly journals T173. POLYGENETIC RISK SCORES FOR MAJOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS AMONG SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS, THEIR FIRST-DEGREE RELATIVES AND HEALTHY SUBJECTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S297-S297
Author(s):  
Kazutaka Ohi ◽  
Daisuke Nishizawa ◽  
Takamitsu Shimada ◽  
Yuzuru Kataoka ◽  
Junko Hasegawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Age At Onset ◽  
Japanese Patients ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Genome Wide

Abstract Background The genetic etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) overlaps with that of other major psychiatric disorders in samples of European ancestry. On the other hand, these major psychiatric disorders are distinct diagnoses that have disorder-specific genetic factors. Recently, the bipolar disorder (BIP) and SCZ Working Group of the PGC identified two genome-wide significant loci differentiating the two disorders in individuals of European descent. We hypothesized that genetic variants differentiating SCZ from BIP in Europeans as well as genetic variants related to psychiatric disorders in Europeans would overlap with genetic risk variants in Japanese SCZ patients and unaffected first-degree relatives (FRs), i.e., individuals at high risk of developing SCZ. The present study investigated transethnic polygenetic features shared between Japanese SCZ or their unaffected FRs and European patients with major psychiatric disorders by conducting polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses. Methods To calculate PRSs for five psychiatric disorders [SCZ, BIP, major depressive disorder (MDD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)] and PRSs differentiating SCZ from BIP, we utilized large-scale European genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets as discovery samples. PRSs derived from these GWASs were calculated for 335 Japanese target subjects [131 SCZ patients, 57 of their unaffected FRs and 147 healthy controls (HCs)]. We took these PRSs based on GWASs of European psychiatric disorders (SCZ, BIP, SCZ vs BIP, MDD, ASD and ADHD) and investigated their effect on risk in Japanese SCZ patients [(i) SCZ vs FRs vs HCs, (ii) SCZ vs HCs and (iii) SCZ vs FRs] or unaffected FRs [(iv) FRs vs HCs] by PRS analyses. Results The PRSs obtained from European SCZ samples were significantly higher in Japanese patients with SCZ than in HCs [(i) SCZ vs FRs vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤1.0: adjusted R2=0.028, p=1.30×10–3; (ii) SCZ vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤1.0: Nagelkerke’s R2=0.049, p=1.66×10–3]. In addition, the PRSs related to European BIP were nominally higher in Japanese patients with SCZ than in HCs [(i) SCZ vs FRs vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤0.5: adjusted R2=0.016, p=0.012; (ii) SCZ vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤0.5: Nagelkerke’s R2=0.029, p=0.015]. Furthermore, PRSs differentiating SCZ patients from European BIP patients were marginally higher in Japanese SCZ patients than in HCs [(i) SCZ vs FRs vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤0.05: adjusted R2=0.010, p=0.043; (ii) SCZ vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤0.05: Nagelkerke’s R2=0.020, p=0.046]. Interestingly, the PRSs obtained from European ASD were marginally lower in Japanese FRs compared with HCs [(iv) FRs vs HCs, a maximum at PT≤0.01: Nagelkerke’s R2=0.045, p=0.013] and patients with SCZ [(iii) SCZ vs FRs, a maximum at PT≤0.2: Nagelkerke’s R2=0.023, p=0.084]. As childhood-onset patients with SCZ have showed higher PRSs for both SCZ and ASD than their unaffected siblings, we further investigated the correlation between age at onset and PRSs for both SCZ and ASD in our SCZ samples. Lower age at onset of SCZ was significantly associated with higher PRSs for ASD (PT≤0.05: beta=-0.20, p=7.13×10–3) but not PRSs for SCZ (p>0.05). Discussion These findings suggest that polygenic factors related to European SCZ and BIP and the polygenic components differentiating SCZ from BIP can transethnically contribute to SCZ risk in Japanese people. Furthermore, we suggest that reduced levels of an ASD-related genetic factor in unaffected FRs may help protect against SCZ development.

Familial coaggregation of major psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a nationwide population-based study

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Hohui E. Wang ◽  
Chih-Ming Cheng ◽  
Ya-Mei Bai ◽  
Ju-Wei Hsu ◽  
Kai-Lin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Research Database ◽  
Population Based Study ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors

Abstract Background Family coaggregation of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia have been presented in previous studies. The shared genetic and environmental factors among psychiatric disorders remain elusive. Methods This nationwide population-based study examined familial coaggregation of major psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of individuals with ASD. Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 26 667 individuals with ASD and 67 998 FDRs of individuals with ASD. The cohort was matched in 1:4 ratio to 271 992 controls. The relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of ADHD, ASD, BD, MDD and schizophrenia were assessed among FDRs of individuals with ASD and ASD with intellectual disability (ASD-ID). Results FDRs of individuals with ASD have higher RRs of major psychiatric disorders compared with controls: ASD 17.46 (CI 15.50–19.67), ADHD 3.94 (CI 3.72–4.17), schizophrenia 3.05 (CI 2.74–3.40), BD 2.22 (CI 1.98–2.48) and MDD 1.88 (CI 1.76–2.00). Higher RRs of schizophrenia (4.47, CI 3.95–5.06) and ASD (18.54, CI 16.18–21.23) were observed in FDRs of individuals with both ASD-ID, compared with ASD only. Conclusions The risk for major psychiatric disorders was consistently elevated across all types of FDRs of individuals with ASD. FDRs of individuals with ASD-ID are at further higher risk for ASD and schizophrenia. Our results provide leads for future investigation of shared etiologic pathways of ASD, ID and major psychiatric disorders and highlight the importance of mental health care delivered to at-risk families for early diagnoses and interventions.

scholarly journals Co-occurring Hydrocephalus and Polygenic Risk in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Danish Population-based Cohort Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Nørgaard Munch ◽  
Paula Hedley ◽  
Christian Munch Hagen ◽  
Marie Bækvad-Hansen ◽  
Jonas Bybjerg-Grauholm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Research ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Danish Population ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Population Controls

Abstract Background The association between autism spectrum disorder and hydrocephalus is not well understood, despite demonstrated links between autism spectrum disorder and cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities. Based on the hypothesis that autism spectrum disorder and hydrocephalus may, at least in some cases, be two manifestations of a shared congenital brain pathology, we investigated the potential association between autism spectrum disorder and hydrocephalus in a large Danish population-based cohort, and whether the polygenic risk scores for autism spectrum disorder changed as a function of the presence of hydrocephalus. Methods Patients and controls were obtained from the Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research iPSYCH2012 case-cohort, which includes all patients with selected psychiatric disorders born in Denmark 1981–2005 along with randomly selected population controls (end of follow-up, December 31, 2016). The associations between individual psychiatric disorders and hydrocephalus were estimated using binary logistic regression with adjustment for age and sex. Polygenic risk scores for autism spectrum disorder were used to compare the genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorder as a function of the presence of hydrocephalus. Results The cohort consisted of 86,571 individuals, of which 14,654 were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 28,606 were population controls, and the remaining were diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders. We identified 201 hydrocephalus cases; 68 among autism spectrum disorder patients and 40 among controls (OR 3.77, 95% CI 2.48–5.78). The autism spectrum disorder-hydrocephalus association was significant over the entire subgroup spectrum of autism spectrum disorder. The presence of hydrocephalus did not markedly influence the polygenic risk scores in patients with autism spectrum disorder, which may indicate overlapping genetic architectures or other common aetiology. Conclusions Given the very strong association, we suggest that patients with autism spectrum disorder should be evaluated for co-occurring hydrocephalus on a routine basis as timely neurosurgical intervention is important. Further clarification of the genetic aetiology of both diseases, may help in elucidating shared genetic pathways between autism spectrum disorder and hydrocephalus, and it may elucidate the role of abnormal CSF dynamics in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders.

scholarly journals Prediction of response to drug therapy in psychiatric disorders

Open Biology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 180031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shani Stern ◽  
Sara Linker ◽  
Krishna C. Vadodaria ◽  
Maria C. Marchetto ◽  
Fred H. Gage
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Patient Reported

Personalized medicine has become increasingly relevant to many medical fields, promising more efficient drug therapies and earlier intervention. The development of personalized medicine is coupled with the identification of biomarkers and classification algorithms that help predict the responses of different patients to different drugs. In the last 10 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several genetically pre-screened drugs labelled as pharmacogenomics in the fields of oncology, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, haematology, neurology, rheumatology and even psychiatry. Clinicians have long cautioned that what may appear to be similar patient-reported symptoms may actually arise from different biological causes. With growing populations being diagnosed with different psychiatric conditions, it is critical for scientists and clinicians to develop precision medication tailored to individual conditions. Genome-wide association studies have highlighted the complicated nature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and autism spectrum disorder. Following these studies, association studies are needed to look for genomic markers of responsiveness to available drugs of individual patients within the population of a specific disorder. In addition to GWAS, the advent of new technologies such as brain imaging, cell reprogramming, sequencing and gene editing has given us the opportunity to look for more biomarkers that characterize a therapeutic response to a drug and to use all these biomarkers for determining treatment options. In this review, we discuss studies that were performed to find biomarkers of responsiveness to different available drugs for four brain disorders: bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression and autism spectrum disorder. We provide recommendations for using an integrated method that will use available techniques for a better prediction of the most suitable drug.

scholarly journals An exploration of concomitant psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Lecavalier ◽  
Courtney E. McCracken ◽  
Michael G. Aman ◽  
Christopher J. McDougle ◽  
James T. McCracken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder

scholarly journals Autism Spectrum Disorder and International Travel

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wee Xuan Neo ◽  
Gerard Thomas Flaherty
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Travel Medicine ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Travel Health ◽  
Travel Experience ◽  
Travel Industry

The literature on international travellers with psychiatric disorders is limited. This perspective article highlights various travel-related aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including its aetiological association with maternal migration, the difficulties faced by longterm travelers with autistic children, and the facilitation of international travel for autistic individuals by the travel industry. Depending on the severity of their condition, autistic individuals may find specific aspects of the travel experience particularly distressing. Travel medicine practitioners should be aware of the unique needs of autistic travelers when providing pre-travel health counseling. There is also an onus on the travel industry to facilitate safe and enjoyable travel and remove barriers faced by autistic travellers.

scholarly journals Hypo- and hyper- sensory processing heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Lefebvre ◽  
Julian Tillmann ◽  
Freddy Cliquet ◽  
Frederique Amsellem ◽  
Anna Maruani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
Deleterious Mutations ◽  
Short Sensory Profile ◽  
First Degree Relatives ◽  
Hyper Sensitivity ◽  
Glutamatergic Pathways

Abstract Background. Sensory processing atypicalities are part of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and could result from an excitation/inhibition imbalance. Yet, the convergence level of phenotypic sensory processing atypicalities with genetic alterations in GABA-ergic and glutamatergic pathways remains poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize the distribution of hypo/hyper-sensory profile among individuals with ASD and investigate the role of deleterious mutations in GABAergic and glutamatergic pathways related genes in sensory processing atypicalities. Method. From the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) questionnaire, we defined and explored a score – the differential Short Sensory Profile (dSSP) - as a normalized and centralized hypo/hypersensitivity ratio for 1136 participants (533 with ASD, 210 first-degree relatives, and 267 controls) from two independent study samples (PARIS and LEAP). We also performed an unsupervised item-based clustering analysis on SSP items scores to validate this new categorization in terms of hypo and hyper sensitivity. We then explored the link between the dSSP score and the burden of deleterious mutations in a subset of individuals for which whole-genome sequencing data were available. Results. We observed a mean dSSP score difference between ASD and controls, driven mostly by a high dSSP score variability among groups (PARIS: p<0.0001, η2 = 0.0001, LEAP: p<0.0001, Cohen’s d=3.67). First-degree relatives were with an intermediate distribution variability profile (p<0.0001). We also reported a positive developmental trajectory of the dSSP score (PARIS: p=0.0006, η2 = 0.02; LEAP: p=0.01, η2 = 0.01). Clusters were similarly characterized by hypo- and hyper-sensitivity items in both study samples (Cramer's V from 0.64 to 0.69, p<0.05). Our genetic analysis showed a trend only for an association with mutations of the GABAergic pathway.Limitations. The major limitation was the dSSP score difficulty to discriminate subjects with a similar quantum of hypo- and hyper- sensory symptoms to those with no such symptoms, resulting both in a similar ratio score of 0.Conclusion. The dSSP score could be a relevant clinical score of the hypo/hyper-sensory individual profile in subjects with ASD. Combined with additional sensory domain characteristics, genetics and endophenotypic substrates, the dSSP score will offer new avenues to explore the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of sensory processing atypicalities in ASD.

scholarly journals Increased burden of deleterious variants in essential genes in autism spectrum disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (52) ◽  
pp. 15054-15059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Ji ◽  
Rachel L. Kember ◽  
Christopher D. Brown ◽  
Maja Bućan
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Essential Genes ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Priority List ◽  
Human Orthologs

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous, highly heritable neurodevelopmental syndrome characterized by impaired social interaction, communication, and repetitive behavior. It is estimated that hundreds of genes contribute to ASD. We asked if genes with a strong effect on survival and fitness contribute to ASD risk. Human orthologs of genes with an essential role in pre- and postnatal development in the mouse [essential genes (EGs)] are enriched for disease genes and under strong purifying selection relative to human orthologs of mouse genes with a known nonlethal phenotype [nonessential genes (NEGs)]. This intolerance to deleterious mutations, commonly observed haploinsufficiency, and the importance of EGs in development suggest a possible cumulative effect of deleterious variants in EGs on complex neurodevelopmental disorders. With a comprehensive catalog of 3,915 mammalian EGs, we provide compelling evidence for a stronger contribution of EGs to ASD risk compared with NEGs. By examining the exonic de novo and inherited variants from 1,781 ASD quartet families, we show a significantly higher burden of damaging mutations in EGs in ASD probands compared with their non-ASD siblings. The analysis of EGs in the developing brain identified clusters of coexpressed EGs implicated in ASD. Finally, we suggest a high-priority list of 29 EGs with potential ASD risk as targets for future functional and behavioral studies. Overall, we show that large-scale studies of gene function in model organisms provide a powerful approach for prioritization of genes and pathogenic variants identified by sequencing studies of human disease.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of polygenic risk score for autism spectrum disorders in general population

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Budhachandra Khundrakpam ◽  
Uku Vainik ◽  
Jinnan Gong ◽  
Noor Al-Sharif ◽  
Neha Bhutani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
White Matter ◽  
General Population ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
White Matter Connectivity

Abstract Autism spectrum disorder is a highly prevalent and highly heritable neurodevelopmental condition, but studies have mostly taken traditional categorical diagnosis approach (yes/no for autism spectrum disorder). In contrast, an emerging notion suggests a continuum model of autism spectrum disorder with a normal distribution of autistic tendencies in the general population, where a full diagnosis is at the severe tail of the distribution. We set out to investigate such a viewpoint by investigating the interaction of polygenic risk scores for autism spectrum disorder and Age2 on neuroimaging measures (cortical thickness and white matter connectivity) in a general population (n = 391, with age ranging from 3 to 21 years from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics study). We observed that children with higher polygenic risk for autism spectrum disorder exhibited greater cortical thickness for a large age span starting from 3 years up to ∼14 years in several cortical regions localized in bilateral precentral gyri and the left hemispheric postcentral gyrus and precuneus. In an independent case–control dataset from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (n = 560), we observed a similar pattern: children with autism spectrum disorder exhibited greater cortical thickness starting from 6 years onwards till ∼14 years in wide-spread cortical regions including (the ones identified using the general population). We also observed statistically significant regional overlap between the two maps, suggesting that some of the cortical abnormalities associated with autism spectrum disorder overlapped with brain changes associated with genetic vulnerability for autism spectrum disorder in healthy individuals. Lastly, we observed that white matter connectivity between the frontal and parietal regions showed significant association with polygenic risk for autism spectrum disorder, indicating that not only the brain structure, but the white matter connectivity might also show a predisposition for the risk of autism spectrum disorder. Our findings showed that the fronto-parietal thickness and connectivity are dimensionally related to genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder in general population and are also part of the cortical abnormalities associated with autism spectrum disorder. This highlights the necessity of considering continuum models in studying the aetiology of autism spectrum disorder using polygenic risk scores and multimodal neuroimaging.

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