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Yilmaz Z, Schaumberg K, Halvorsen M, Goodman EL, Brosof LC, Crowley JJ, Mathews CA, Mattheisen M, Breen G, Bulik CM, Micali N, Zerwas SC. Predicting eating disorder and anxiety symptoms using disorder-specific and transdiagnostic polygenic scores for anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychol Med 2023; 53:3021-3035. [PMID: 35243971 PMCID: PMC9440960 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291721005079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND 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 genetics in the expression of underlying phenotypes. We investigated whether the anorexia nervosa (AN), OCD, or AN/OCD transdiagnostic polygenic scores (PGS) predict eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety symptoms in a large developmental cohort in a sex-specific manner. METHODS Using summary statistics from Psychiatric Genomics Consortium AN and OCD genome-wide association studies, we conducted an AN/OCD transdiagnostic genome-wide association meta-analysis. We then calculated AN, OCD, and AN/OCD PGS in participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to predict eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety symptoms, stratified by sex (combined N = 3212-5369 per phenotype). RESULTS The PGS prediction of eating disorder, OCD, and anxiety phenotypes differed between sexes, although effect sizes were small. AN and AN/OCD PGS played a more prominent role in predicting eating disorder and anxiety risk than OCD PGS, especially in girls. AN/OCD PGS provided a small boost over AN PGS in the prediction of some anxiety symptoms. All three PGS predicted higher compulsive exercise across different developmental timepoints [β = 0.03 (s.e. = 0.01) for AN and AN/OCD PGS at age 14; β = 0.05 (s.e. = 0.02) for OCD PGS at age 16] in girls. CONCLUSIONS Compulsive exercise may have a transdiagnostic genetic etiology, and AN genetic risk may play a role in the presence of anxiety symptoms. Converging with prior twin literature, our results also suggest that some of the contribution of genetic risk may be sex-specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeynep Yilmaz
- National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Katherine Schaumberg
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Matthew Halvorsen
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Erica L. Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA
| | - Leigh C. Brosof
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
| | - James J. Crowley
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | | | | | - Carol A. Mathews
- Department of Psychiatry, Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Manuel Mattheisen
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 10, Aarhus, Denmark
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative of Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Gerome Breen
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre, King's College London, London, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley National Health Service Trust, London, UK
| | - Cynthia M. Bulik
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Nadia Micali
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, HUG, Geneva, Switzerland
- Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Paediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, HUG, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Stephanie C. Zerwas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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