American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic, serious psychiatric disorder that affects 2-3% of the population and is associated with high personal and societal costs. Genetic factors are estimated to explain roughly half the risk of developing OCD, and genomic studies are just beginning to identify common and rare genetic variants mediating this risk. A major goal of genomic studies is to yield insights into the etiology of OCD and identify molecular targets for the development of novel the...

While 1-2% of individuals meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), many more ([~]15-40%) experience subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) during their life. To characterize the genetic underpinnings of OCS and its genetic relationship to OCD, we conducted the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of parent- or self-reported OCS to date (N = 33,943 with complete phenotypic and genome-wide data), combining the results from se...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder with an incompletely understood genetic basis, limiting targeted therapeutic options. Although previous rare variant studies have primarily focused on protein-coding genes, the contribution of rare regulatory non-coding variants remains largely unexplored. We analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 2,561 OCD cases and 12,974 controls from the All of Us Research Program to investigate rare, conserved variants (minor a...

To date, four genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been published, reporting a high single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-heritability of 28% but finding only one significant SNP. A sub-stantial increase in sample size will likely lead to further identification of SNPs, genes, and biological pathways mediating the susceptibility to OCD. We conducted a GWAS meta-analysis with a 2-3-fold increase in case sample size (OCD cases: N = 37,015, controls: N =...

ImportanceObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 2-3% of the population with often disabling obsessions and compulsions. Despite its high heritability, genetic studies of OCD have lagged other psychiatric disorders, particularly in understanding the role of rare genetic variants. ObjectiveTo identify rare coding genetic variants contributing to OCD risk and examine genetic overlap with chronic tic disorders (CTD) and other psychiatric conditions. DesignFamily-based and case-control whole-...

Trichotillomania and excoriation disorder are obsessive-compulsive related disorders that are often subclassified together as body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) disorders. While previous research suggests shared genetic factors, the genetic architecture of these BFRBs remains incompletely understood. Probands with trichotillomania and/or excoriation disorder and both of their biological parents were recruited for an ongoing genetic study of parent-offspring trios with BFRBs. Genome-wide arr...

Bipolar disorder (BD) has high clinical heterogeneity, frequent psychiatric comorbidities, and elevated suicide risk. To determine genetic differences between common clinical sub-phenotypes of BD, we performed a systematic PRS analysis using multiple polygenic risk scores (PRSs) from a range of psychiatric, personality, and lifestyle traits to dissect differences in BD sub-phenotypes in two BD cohorts: the Mayo Clinic BD Biobank (N = 968) and Genetic Association Information Network (N = 1001). P...

Importance.Though suicide attempt is the most robust predictor of suicide death, few who attempt go on to die by suicide (<10%), and [~]50% of all suicide deaths occur in the absence of evidence of prior attempts. Risks in this latter group are particularly poorly understood. Objective.Data from the Utah Suicide Mortality Risk Study (USMRS) were used to study underlying polygenic liabilities among suicide deaths without evidence of prior nonfatal suicidal thoughts or behaviors (SD-N) compared t...

BackgroundThe Populations Underrepresented in Mental illness Association Studies (PUMAS) project is attempting to remediate the historical underrepresentation of African and Latin American populations in psychiatric genetics through large-scale genetic association studies of individuals diagnosed with a serious mental illness [SMI, including schizophrenia (SCZ), schizoaffective disorder (SZA) bipolar disorder (BP), and severe major depressive disorder (MDD)] and matched controls. Given growing e...

BackgroundObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric condition influenced by both genetic and environmental risk factors. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, may offer insights into biologically meaningful differences associated with the disorder. MethodsWe conducted the largest methylome-wide association study (MWAS) of OCD to date, analyzing saliva DNA samples from 414 individuals with OCD and 384 controls using the Illumina EPICv2 array. Differentially m...

Substantial genetic correlations have been reported across psychiatric disorders and numerous cross-disorder genetic variants have been detected. To identify the genetic variants underlying general psychopathology in childhood, we performed a genome-wide association study using a total psychiatric problem score. We analyzed 6,844,199 common SNPs in 38,418 school-aged children from 20 population-based cohorts participating in the EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortium. The ...

ObjectivesObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common psychiatric disorder, with two-thirds of affected individuals reporting severe impairment. Despite its substantial burden and moderate heritability, its etiology remains poorly understood, and treatments are often suboptimal. While recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified some risk loci, yet OCD remains in the linear phase of sample collection to variant association, with many more OCD-associated variants left to disc...

BackgroundUp to 60% of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not respond to the first treatment with antidepressants. Response to antidepressants is a polygenic trait, although its underpinning genetics has not been fully clarified. This study aimed to investigate if Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) for major psychiatric disorders and neuroticism were associated with non-response or resistance to antidepressants in MDD. MethodsPRSs for bipolar disorder, MDD, neuroticism, and schizophreni...

BackgroundClinical biobanks linking electronic health records (EHRs) with genotype data are expanding, enabling investigation of genomic risk factors for psychiatric disorders. However, few recall-by-genotype (RbG) studies have been published--particularly for psychiatric risk variants in diverse healthcare systems--indicating a need for further research to inform implementation. Some rare copy number variants (CNVs) confer substantially increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and...

BackgroundAnxiety disorders are prevalent and anxiety symptoms co-occur with many psychiatric disorders. We aimed to identify genomic risk loci associated with anxiety, characterize its genetic architecture, and genetic overlap with psychiatric disorders. MethodsWe used the GWAS of anxiety symptoms, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We employed MiXeR and LAVA to characterize the genetic architecture and genetic overlap betwee...

ImportanceLarge-scale genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are expected to inform the development of pharmacological treatments, however the mechanisms of correspondence between the genetic liability identified through GWASs and disease pathophysiology are not well understood. ObjectiveTo investigate whether functional information from a range of open bioinformatics datasets can elucidate the relationship between GWAS-identified genetic variation and the genes targeted by current treatments ...

Current phenotype classifiers for large biobanks with coupled electronic health records EHR and multi-omic data rely on ICD-10 codes for definition. However, ICD-10 codes are primarily designed for billing purposes, and may be insufficient for research. Nuanced phenotypes composed of a patients experience in the EHR will allow us to create precision psychiatry to predict disease risk, severity, and trajectories in EHR and clinical populations. Here, we create a phenotype risk score (PheRS) for m...

Evidence indicates a great degree of genetic overlap between psychiatric diagnoses. Accounting for these transdiagnostic effects can sharpen research on disorder-specific genetic architecture. Here we isolate genetic effects that are shared across 11 major psychiatric disorders (p factor) to gain further insight into genetic specificity and comorbidity over and above that contributed by the p factor, unique to each psychiatric disorder. After adjusting for transdiagnostic genetic effects, we exa...

ObjectiveTo report current practices and attitudes of child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAP) regarding diagnostic genetic and pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing. MethodsSurvey of 958 US-based practicing CAP. Results54.9% of respondents indicated that they had ordered/referred for a genetic test in the past 12 months. 87% of respondents agreed that it is their role to discuss genetic information regarding psychiatric conditions with their patients; however, 45% rated their knowledge of genetic tes...

Although the etiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is largely unknown, it is accepted that OCD is a complex disorder. There is a known bi-directional interaction between the gut microbiome and brain activity. Several authors have reported associations between changes in gut microbiota and neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression or autism. Furthermore, a pediatric-onset neuropsychiatric OCD-related syndrome occurs after streptococcal infection, which might indicate that exposur...