Predicting Eating Disorder and Anxiety Symptoms Using Anorexia Nervosa and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Polygenic Scores

Clinical, epidemiological, and genetic findings support an overlap between eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxiety symptoms. However, little research has examined the role of genetic factors in the expression of eating disorders and OCD/anxiety phenotypes. We examined whether the anorexia nervosa (AN), OCD, or AN/OCD transdiagnostic polygenic scores (PGS) predict eating disorders, OCD, and anxiety symptoms in a large population-based developmental cohort. Using summary statistics files from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Freeze 2 AN and Freeze 1 OCD GWAS, we first conducted an AN/OCD transdiagnostic GWAS meta-analysis and then calculated PGS for AN, OCD, and AN/OCD in participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with available genetic and phenotype data on eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety diagnoses and symptoms (sample size 3,212-5,369 per phenotype). We observed sex differences in the PGS prediction of eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety-related phenotypes, with AN genetic risk manifesting at an earlier age and playing a more prominent role in eating disorder phenotypes in boys than in girls. Compulsive exercise was the only phenotype predicted by all three PGS (e.g., PAN(boys)=0.0141 at age 14; POCD(girls)=0.0070 at age 16; PAN/OCD(all)=0.0297 at age 14). Our results suggest that earlier detection of eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety-related symptoms could be made possible by including measurement of genetic risk for these psychiatric conditions while being mindful of sex differences.

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Comparative Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Other Anxiety Disorders

Psychiatry Journal ◽

10.1155/2015/186927 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Himanshu Tyagi ◽

Rupal Patel ◽

Fabienne Rughooputh ◽

Hannah Abrahams ◽

Andrew J. Watson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Eating Disorder ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Geographical Area ◽

Primary Diagnosis ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Significant Difference

Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of comorbid eating disorders in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and other common anxiety disorders.Method. 179 patients from the same geographical area with a diagnosis of OCD or an anxiety disorder were divided into two groups based on their primary diagnosis. The prevalence of a comorbid eating disorder was calculated in both groups.Results. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of comorbid eating disorders between the OCD and other anxiety disorders group.Conclusions. These results suggest that the prevalence of comorbid eating disorders does not differ in anxiety disorders when compared with OCD. However, in both groups, it remains statistically higher than that of the general population.

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Examination of the Shared Genetic Basis of Anorexia Nervosa and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

10.1101/231076 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Zeynep Yilmaz ◽

Matthew Halvorsen ◽

Julien Bryois ◽

Dongmei Yu ◽

Laura M. Thornton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

The Cross ◽

Shared Risk ◽

Shared Genetic

ABSTRACTAnorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often comorbid and likely to share genetic risk factors. Hence, we examine their shared genetic background using a crossdisorder GWAS meta-analysis of 3,495 AN cases, 2,688 OCD cases and 18,013 controls. We confirmed a high genetic correlation between AN and OCD (rg = 0.49 ± 0.13, p = 9.07×10−7) and a sizable SNP heritability (SNP h2 = 0.21 ± 0.02) for the cross-disorder phenotype. Although no individual loci reached genome-wide significance, the cross-disorder phenotype showed strong positive genetic correlations with other psychiatric phenotypes (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, neuroticism) and negative correlations with metabolic phenotypes (e.g., BMI, triglycerides). Follow-up analyses revealed that although AN and OCD overlap heavily in their shared risk with other psychiatric phenotypes, the relationship with metabolic and anthropometric traits is markedly stronger for AN than for OCD. We further tested whether shared genetic risk for AN/OCD was associated with particular tissue or cell-type gene expression patterns and found that the basal ganglia and medium spiny neurons were most enriched for AN/OCD risk, consistent with neurobiological findings for both disorders. Our results confirm and extend genetic epidemiological findings of shared risk between AN and OCD and suggest that larger GWASs are warranted.

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Eating Disorders and Tourette Syndrome: A Case Series of Comorbidity and Associated Obsessive-Compulsive Symptomatology

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s109285290001141x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 77-80, 86 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Angela S. Guarda ◽

Janet Treasure ◽

Mary M. Robertson

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Tourette Syndrome ◽

Case Series ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms ◽

Compulsive Disorder

AbstractThere is a well-established overlap in phenomenology between anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and Tourette syndrome (TS). Five cases of eating disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms and TS are presented. The identification of four similar cases in the literature putatively marks a subset of eating disorders with a link to TS and to obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. This association may reflect a common underlying neurobiologic imbalance.

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Using an OCD formulation in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: a useful way to understand the illness?

The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist ◽

10.1017/s1754470x13000147 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul E. Jenkins

Keyword(s):

Eating Disorders ◽

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Clinical Practice ◽

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Current Paper ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Treatment Techniques ◽

Potential Benefits

AbstractAnorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have been shown to have a number of commonalities, such as genetics, neurobiology, and symptoms. Approaches to treatment of AN have recently been described that take such findings into account, extending interventions recommended for obsessive compulsive and anxiety disorders to AN. The current paper aims to outline a formulation model of AN in adults, derived from the literature on OCD, and introduce this topic as a fruitful area to build on existing treatment techniques, and to prompt further discussion of such techniques. A formulation model is described, followed by a discussion of how this might be applied to AN, using examples from clinical practice. Potential benefits and difficulties are discussed. A formulation model is suggested that can easily be adapted to AN, complementing existing models in eating disorders.

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