Summary: Researchers have found that schizophrenia shares genetic risk factors with bipolar disorder and major depression, and that these vulnerabilities are more severe in men than in women. . In this new study, he analyzed more than 3,000 individuals and found that polygenic scores for various mental disorders contributed differentially to psychosis risk based on gender.
These results highlight the importance of considering gender differences when studying the genetic basis of mental disorders. This discovery opens new avenues for personalized approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses.
Important facts:
Schizophrenia shares genetic risk factors with bipolar disorder and depression. Genetic vulnerability to psychotic disorders is higher in men than in women. These findings could lead to more individualized psychiatric treatments.
Source: University of Barcelona
A team of researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Center for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Networks (CIBERSAM) has published a pioneering study that reveals important findings in the field of genetic psychiatry from the perspective of gender-specific analysis.
First, this paper confirms that common genetic vulnerabilities exist between schizophrenia and other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and major depression.
Moreover, this study innovatively highlights that this is even more important for men than women with schizophrenia.
The study, published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology, was co-led by Professors Barbara Arias and Araceli Rosa from the Department of Biology and Institute of Biomedical Research at the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and CIBERSAM. The first authors of this study are Marina Mitjans (UB-IBUB-CIBERSAM) and Sergi Papiol. He is also a member of his CIBERSAM and a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich (Germany).
In this study, the authors analyzed the CIBERSAM sample, which included 1826 psychiatric patients and 1372 control patients. The aim was to determine how polygenic scores (PGS) for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder contribute to the risk of developing psychotic disorders, and how these associations exist in men and women. The purpose was to analyze how they differ.
“Our results support the hypothesis that there are common genetic factors that contribute to the risk of developing these diseases and suggest that there is a common biological basis between them. ” says Marina Mijans, lead author of the study and a member of UB. Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and Hospital Sant Joan de Deu de Barcelona (HSJD).
Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that there are differences between men and women in genetic vulnerability to psychotic disorders, which is reflected in the observed sex differences in prevalence, clinical presentation, and response to treatment. may have important implications for understanding.
“Our study highlights the importance of considering sex differences in genetic research to develop more personalized strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice,” said UB said Barbara Arias, a member of the consortium’s Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sciences. – Principal Investigator of her G08 group at CIBERSAM.
The study’s principal investigators agree: “This study is an example of the power of interdisciplinary collaboration among the CIBERSAM group to advance the understanding of complex mental disorders.”
About this genetics and mental health research news
Author: Rosa Martinez
Source: University of Barcelona
Contact: Rosa Martinez – University of Barcelona
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Common vulnerability and sex-dependent polygenic burden in psychotic disorders” Bárbara Arias et al. European Neuropsychopharmacology
abstract
Common vulnerability and gender-dependent polygenic burden in psychotic disorders
Evidence suggests that genetic susceptibility is significantly shared among psychiatric disorders. However, differences by gender have not been extensively studied.
We investigated whether polygenic scores (PGS) for schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) contribute to the risk of psychotic disorders, and whether there are gender differences. We investigated whether it exists (CIBERSAM sample: 1826 patients and 1372 controls). .
All PGS were significantly associated with psychosis. Gender-stratified analyzes showed that the variance explained in the risk of psychotic disorders was significantly higher for men than for women for all PGS.
Our results confirm a common genetic architecture across psychotic disorders and demonstrate gender-dependent differences in vulnerability to psychotic disorders.