scholarly journals “The Heidelberg Five” Personality Dimensions: Genome-wide Associations, Polygenic Risk for Neuroticism, and Psychopathology 20 Years after Assessment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urs Heilbronner ◽  
Sergi Papiol ◽  
Monika Budde ◽  
Till F. M. Andlauer ◽  
Jana Strohmaier ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe HeiDE study (‘‘Heidelberger Langzeitstudie zu Risikofaktoren und Diagnose chronischer Erkrankungen’’) is a longitudinal population-based study that started in the 1990s and, at baseline, assessed an array of health-related personality questionnaires in 5 133 individuals. Five latent personality dimensions (The Heidelberg Five) were identified and interpreted as Emotional Lability (ELAB), Lack of Behavioral Control (LBCN), Type A Behavior (TYAB), Locus of Control over Disease (LOCC), and Psychoticism (PSYC). A subset of participants (n=3 268; after quality control) were genotyped on whole-genome arrays at follow-up. To further characterize The Heidelberg Five, we analyzed genomic underpinnings, their relations to the genetic basis of the Big Five trait Neuroticism, and longitudinal associations with lifetime psychiatric symptoms. SNP-based heritability was significant for ELAB (34%) and LBCN (29%). Five separate genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using factor scores on personality dimensions as phenotypes were conducted, only the phenotype PSYC yielded a genome-wide significant finding (p<5×10−8, top SNP rs138223660). Gene-based analyses identified significant findings for ELAB (Integrin Subunit Beta 5), TYAB (Coiled-coil Domain Containing 83), and PSYC (Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 1 Group H Member 4). Polygenic risk scores for Neuroticism, phenotypically related to ELAB, were associated with ELAB, but not with the remaining Heidelberg Five. Longitudinally, all personality dimensions were related to depressive symptoms at follow-up, with ELAB, LBCN, and PSYC also associated with lifetime anxiety symptoms. These results highlight the clinical importance of health-related personality traits, and identify LBCN as a heritable “executive function” personality trait.

2021 ◽  
pp. ASN.2020111599
Author(s):  
Zhi Yu ◽  
Jin Jin ◽  
Adrienne Tin ◽  
Anna Köttgen ◽  
Bing Yu ◽  
...  

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed numerous loci for kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR). The relationship of polygenic predictors of eGFR, risk of incident adverse kidney outcomes, and the plasma proteome is not known. Methods: We developed a genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) for eGFR by applying the LDpred algorithm to summary statistics generated from a multiethnic meta-analysis of CKDGen Consortium GWAS (N=765,348) and UK Biobank GWAS (90% of the cohort; N=451,508), followed by best parameter selection using the remaining 10% of UK Biobank (N=45,158). We then tested the association of the PRS in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study (N=8,866) with incident chronic kidney disease, kidney failure, and acute kidney injury. We also examined associations between the PRS and 4,877 plasma proteins measured at at middle age and older adulthood and evaluated mediation of PRS associations by eGFR. Results: The developed PRS showed significant associations with all outcomes with hazard ratios (95% CI) per 1 SD lower PRS ranged from 1.06 (1.01, 1.11) to 1.33 (1.28, 1.37). The PRS was significantly associated with 132 proteins at both time points. The strongest associations were with cystatin-C, collagen alpha-1(XV) chain, and desmocollin-2. Most proteins were higher at lower kidney function, except for 5 proteins including testican-2. Most correlations of the genetic PRS with proteins were mediated by eGFR. Conclusions: A PRS for eGFR is now sufficiently strong to capture risk for a spectrum of incident kidney diseases and broadly influences the plasma proteome, primarily mediated by eGFR.


Author(s):  
Alexander L Richards ◽  
Antonio F Pardiñas ◽  
Aura Frizzati ◽  
Katherine E Tansey ◽  
Amy J Lynham ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cognitive impairment is a clinically important feature of schizophrenia. Polygenic risk score (PRS) methods have demonstrated genetic overlap between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), educational attainment (EA), and IQ, but very few studies have examined associations between these PRS and cognitive phenotypes within schizophrenia cases. Methods We combined genetic and cognitive data in 3034 schizophrenia cases from 11 samples using the general intelligence factor g as the primary measure of cognition. We used linear regression to examine the association between cognition and PRS for EA, IQ, schizophrenia, BD, and MDD. The results were then meta-analyzed across all samples. A genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of cognition was conducted in schizophrenia cases. Results PRS for both population IQ (P = 4.39 × 10–28) and EA (P = 1.27 × 10–26) were positively correlated with cognition in those with schizophrenia. In contrast, there was no association between cognition in schizophrenia cases and PRS for schizophrenia (P = .39), BD (P = .51), or MDD (P = .49). No individual variant approached genome-wide significance in the GWAS. Conclusions Cognition in schizophrenia cases is more strongly associated with PRS that index cognitive traits in the general population than PRS for neuropsychiatric disorders. This suggests the mechanisms of cognitive variation within schizophrenia are at least partly independent from those that predispose to schizophrenia diagnosis itself. Our findings indicate that this cognitive variation arises at least in part due to genetic factors shared with cognitive performance in populations and is not solely due to illness or treatment-related factors, although our findings are consistent with important contributions from these factors.


Author(s):  
Anke Hüls ◽  
Marvin N. Wright ◽  
Leonie H. Bogl ◽  
Jaakko Kaprio ◽  
Lauren Lissner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Childhood obesity is a complex multifaceted condition, which is influenced by genetics, environmental factors, and their interaction. However, these interactions have mainly been studied in twin studies and evidence from population-based cohorts is limited. Here, we analyze the interaction of an obesity-related genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) with sociodemographic and lifestyle factors for BMI and waist circumference (WC) in European children and adolescents. Methods The analyses are based on 8609 repeated observations from 3098 participants aged 2–16 years from the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort. A genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) was calculated using summary statistics from independent genome-wide association studies of BMI. Associations were estimated using generalized linear mixed models adjusted for sex, age, region of residence, parental education, dietary intake, relatedness, and population stratification. Results The PRS was associated with BMI (beta estimate [95% confidence interval (95%—CI)] = 0.33 [0.30, 0.37], r2 = 0.11, p value = 7.9 × 10−81) and WC (beta [95%—CI] = 0.36 [0.32, 0.40], r2 = 0.09, p value = 1.8 × 10−71). We observed significant interactions with demographic and lifestyle factors for BMI as well as WC. Children from Southern Europe showed increased genetic liability to obesity (BMI: beta [95%—CI] = 0.40 [0.34, 0.45]) in comparison to children from central Europe (beta [95%—CI] = 0.29 [0.23, 0.34]), p-interaction = 0.0066). Children of parents with a low level of education showed an increased genetic liability to obesity (BMI: beta [95%—CI] = 0.48 [0.38, 0.59]) in comparison to children of parents with a high level of education (beta [95%—CI] = 0.30 [0.26, 0.34]), p-interaction = 0.0012). Furthermore, the genetic liability to obesity was attenuated by a higher intake of fiber (BMI: beta [95%—CI] interaction = −0.02 [−0.04,−0.01]) and shorter screen times (beta [95%—CI] interaction = 0.02 [0.00, 0.03]). Conclusions Our results highlight that a healthy childhood environment might partly offset a genetic predisposition to obesity during childhood and adolescence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moataz Dowaidar

Nevertheless, in the field of hypertension genomics, it is likely that new genetic markers will be identified, but until they are, the results are restricted. Following on from this, and by drawing from pharmacogenomic, pleiotropic, and functional studies, the follow-up and clinical translation of these genetic results seems to be very promising. These endothelin-related SNPs, which have gone on to the clinical trial stage, signify further success in the advancement of hypertension precision medicine that has already been discovered through genetic research. Although the use of polygenic risk scores may appear advantageous, further study is required to verify their effectiveness, and this issue must be examined further to determine the potential for these scores to lead to an increase in health inequity.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e025530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annina B Schmid ◽  
Kaustubh Adhikari ◽  
Luis Miguel Ramirez-Aristeguieta ◽  
Juan-Camilo Chacón-Duque ◽  
Giovanni Poletti ◽  
...  

IntroductionPain constitutes a major component of the global burden of diseases. Recent studies suggest a strong genetic contribution to pain susceptibility and severity. Whereas most of the available evidence relies on candidate gene association or linkage studies, research on the genetic basis of pain sensitivity using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is still in its infancy. This protocol describes a proposed GWAS on genetic contributions to baseline pain sensitivity and nociceptive sensitisation in a sample of unrelated healthy individuals of mixed Latin American ancestry.Methods and analysisA GWAS on genetic contributions to pain sensitivity in the naïve state and following nociceptive sensitisation will be conducted in unrelated healthy individuals of mixed ancestry. Mechanical and thermal pain sensitivity will be evaluated with a battery of quantitative sensory tests evaluating pain thresholds. In addition, variation in mechanical and thermal sensitisation following topical application of mustard oil to the skin will be evaluated.Ethics and disseminationThis study received ethical approval from the University College London research ethics committee (3352/001) and from the bioethics committee of the Odontology Faculty at the University of Antioquia (CONCEPTO 01–2013). Findings will be disseminated to commissioners, clinicians and service users via papers and presentations at international conferences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Kirsten Voorhies ◽  
Joanne E. Sordillo ◽  
Michael McGeachie ◽  
Elizabeth Ampleford ◽  
Alberta L. Wang ◽  
...  

An unaddressed and important issue is the role age plays in modulating response to short acting β2-agonists in individuals with asthma. The objective of this study was to identify whether age modifies genetic associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with bronchodilator response (BDR) to β2-agonists. Using three cohorts with a total of 892 subjects, we ran a genome wide interaction study (GWIS) for each cohort to examine SNP by age interactions with BDR. A fixed effect meta-analysis was used to combine the results. In order to determine if previously identified BDR SNPs had an age interaction, we also examined 16 polymorphisms in candidate genes from two published genome wide association studies (GWAS) of BDR. There were no significant SNP by age interactions on BDR using the genome wide significance level of 5 × 10−8. Using a suggestive significance level of 5 × 10−6, three interactions, including one for a SNP within PRAG1 (rs4840337), were significant and replicated at the significance level of 0.05. Considering candidate genes from two previous GWAS of BDR, three SNPs (rs10476900 (near ADRB2) [p-value = 0.009], rs10827492 (CREM) [p-value = 0.02], and rs72646209 (NCOA3) [p-value = 0.02]) had a marginally significant interaction with age on BDR (p < 0.05). Our results suggest age may be an important modifier of genetic associations for BDR in asthma.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 441
Author(s):  
Fanny Pineau ◽  
Davide Caimmi ◽  
Sylvie Taviaux ◽  
Maurane Reveil ◽  
Laura Brosseau ◽  
...  

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic genetic disease that mainly affects the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. No curative treatments are available, but the follow-up in specialized centers has greatly improved the patient life expectancy. Robust biomarkers are required to monitor the disease, guide treatments, stratify patients, and provide outcome measures in clinical trials. In the present study, we outline a strategy to select putative DNA methylation biomarkers of lung disease severity in cystic fibrosis patients. In the discovery step, we selected seven potential biomarkers using a genome-wide DNA methylation dataset that we generated in nasal epithelial samples from the MethylCF cohort. In the replication step, we assessed the same biomarkers using sputum cell samples from the MethylBiomark cohort. Of interest, DNA methylation at the cg11702988 site (ATP11A gene) positively correlated with lung function and BMI, and negatively correlated with lung disease severity, P. aeruginosa chronic infection, and the number of exacerbations. These results were replicated in prospective sputum samples collected at four time points within an 18-month period and longitudinally. To conclude, (i) we identified a DNA methylation biomarker that correlates with CF severity, (ii) we provided a method to easily assess this biomarker, and (iii) we carried out the first longitudinal analysis of DNA methylation in CF patients. This new epigenetic biomarker could be used to stratify CF patients in clinical trials.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Sabrina Daniela da Silva ◽  
Fabio Albuquerque Marchi ◽  
Jie Su ◽  
Long Yang ◽  
Ludmila Valverde ◽  
...  

Invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is often ulcerated and heavily infiltrated by pro-inflammatory cells. We conducted a genome-wide profiling of tissues from OSCC patients (early versus advanced stages) with 10 years follow-up. Co-amplification and co-overexpression of TWIST1, a transcriptional activator of epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT), and colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF1), a major chemotactic agent for tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), were observed in metastatic OSCC cases. The overexpression of these markers strongly predicted poor patient survival (log-rank test, p = 0.0035 and p = 0.0219). Protein analysis confirmed the enhanced expression of TWIST1 and CSF1 in metastatic tissues. In preclinical models using OSCC cell lines, macrophages, and an in vivo matrigel plug assay, we demonstrated that TWIST1 gene overexpression induces the activation of CSF1 while TWIST1 gene silencing down-regulates CSF1 preventing OSCC invasion. Furthermore, excessive macrophage activation and polarization was observed in co-culture system involving OSCC cells overexpressing TWIST1. In summary, this study provides insight into the cooperation between TWIST1 transcription factor and CSF1 to promote OSCC invasiveness and opens up the potential therapeutic utility of currently developed antibodies and small molecules targeting cancer-associated macrophages.


Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 131 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Franceschini ◽  
Adrienne Stilp ◽  
Christina L Wassel ◽  
Holly J Mattix-Kramer ◽  
Michael F Flessner ◽  
...  

Introduction: Genome wide association studies have identified genetic variants in the Cubillin gene ( CUBN ) that explain inter-individual variation in urine albumin-to-creatinine excretion (UACR) in populations. These studies have not included Hispanics/Latinos, the fast growing minority population in the U.S., who has also high prevalence of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors. Hypothesis: By leveraging on population admixture of Hispanics and using a genome wide association approach, we hypothesized that novel loci associated with UACR would be identified. Methods: We used data from 12,212 self-identified Hispanic individuals recruited in a community-based study, aged 18-74 years at screening (2008-2011), and randomly selected from households in four U.S. field centers (Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Bronx, NY; San Diego, CA). Urine albumin (mg/dl) and creatinine (g/dl) were measured at the baseline exam. UACR was log-transformed for analysis. Individuals were excluded if reporting to have end-stage renal disease. Genotyping was performed using a custom Illumina Omni2.5M array. Imputation of variants was performed using 1000 Genome Project data from cosmopolitan HapMap samples. After quality control of imputed data, we performed mixed linear regression analyses that accounted for the sampling strategy and family relatedness, for variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) > 0.01 and imputation quality > 0.3. We used additive genetic models and adjusted for age, sex, and principal components which were estimated from the data. In a secondary analysis, we also examine the association of significant variants with kidney function using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) equations. Results: Among 12,212 participants, 41% were men, and mean age was 46 (SD =13). There was little evidence for genome wide inflation (lambda =1.024). We identified significant associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with UACR at two loci: CUBN and HBB . The CUBN SNP (chr10:16966414, p=2.1x10-8) is an indel variant with MAF of 0.14, which was not in linkage disequilibrium with previously reported SNP rs1801239 (rsq=0.38, p=1.3x10-4) identified in individuals of European ancestry. The HBB SNP is a missense variant which results in an E [Glu] ⇒ A [Ala] substitution in the beta-globin chain of hemoglobin and a cause of the Mendelian disorder sickle cell anemia (rs334, T allele frequency =0.01, beta=0.44, SE=0.06, p=7.6x10-12). rs344 was not associated with eGFR in our data (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study identified a novel association of a sickle cell missense variant with UACR in Hispanics, and provided evidence for allelic heterogeneity at the CUBN locus. Our findings suggest a role for Mendelian gene variants in increased albuminuria in Hispanic populations with admixture.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Andersson ◽  
Antonia Romero ◽  
Joana Isabel Rodrigues ◽  
Sansan Hua ◽  
Xinxin Hao ◽  
...  

The toxic metalloid arsenic causes widespread misfolding and aggregation of cellular proteins. How these protein aggregates are formed in vivo, the mechanisms by which they affect cells, and how cells prevent their accumulation is not fully understood. To find components involved in these processes, we performed a genome-wide imaging screen and identified yeast deletion mutants with either enhanced or reduced protein aggregation levels during arsenite exposure. We show that many of the identified factors are crucial to safeguard protein homeostasis (proteostasis) and to protect cells against arsenite toxicity. The hits were enriched for various functions including protein biosynthesis and transcription, and dedicated follow-up experiments highlight the importance of accurate transcriptional and translational control for mitigating protein aggregation and toxicity during arsenite stress. Some of the hits are associated with pathological conditions, suggesting that arsenite-induced protein aggregation may affect disease processes. The broad network of cellular systems that impinge on proteostasis during arsenic stress identified in this current study provides a valuable resource and a framework for further elucidation of the mechanistic details of metalloid toxicity and pathogenesis.


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