Summary: A large-scale genetic study involving over 1 million participants has uncovered more than 100 genes associated with anxiety. Researchers found that these genes contribute to the development of anxiety disorders and are also linked to other mental and physical health conditions, such as depression and gastrointestinal disorders.
The study highlights the importance of understanding the genetic basis of anxiety to develop more effective treatments. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for diverse genetic studies to uncover ancestry-specific risk factors.
Key Facts:
- Over 100 genes linked to anxiety were identified in a large-scale study.
- Anxiety-associated genes are also tied to depression, schizophrenia, and physical health conditions.
- Cross-ancestry genetic studies are crucial for understanding diverse risk factors.
Source: Yale
Investigators from the Yale Department of Psychiatry investigated the genetic profiles of more than 1 million participants enrolled in multiple cohorts around the world. Leveraging this large dataset, they uncovered more than 100 genes associated with anxiety.
The results were published in Nature Genetics.
Anxiety disorders and symptoms affect many individuals with a negative impact on people’s quality of life. Understanding their genetic predisposition can have major implications for developing more effective therapies and treatments to reduce anxiety’s harmful consequences.
“This effort highlights the power of large-scale genetic studies to dissect the complex pathogenesis of anxiety demonstrating how multiple genes acting on different brain functions contribute to defining individual genetic risk,” said Renato Polimanti, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
“These findings open new possibilities to understand the molecular basis of psychopathology and assess the mechanisms responsible for the comorbidity between anxiety and other negative health outcomes.”
Integrating genetic information with other molecular features, the scientists understood how genes can act on different brain structures to increase the risk of developing anxiety disorders and symptoms.
They also observed that some anxiety-associated genes can also predispose to other mental illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
In line with anxiety comorbidity with physical health, the study also demonstrated that anxiety genetic risk is also correlated with non-psychiatric conditions. In particular, the strongest evidence was observed with gastrointestinal disorders and pain-related outcomes.
“Studying anxiety disorders across five different ancestries for the first time, we were able to discover the genetic architecture of anxiety disorders with more power for genetic association,” said Eleni Friligkou, MD, psychiatry resident in the Neuroscience Research Training Program and first author of the study.
“Our effort highlights the importance of increasing diversity in genetic studies to better understand ancestry-specific correlates of anxiety disorders, but also to leverage the power of cross-ancestry genetic discovery.”
About this genetics and anxiety research news
Author: Renato Polimanti
Source: Yale
Contact: Renato Polimanti – Yale
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access.
“Gene discovery and biological insights into anxiety disorders from a large-scale multi-ancestry genome-wide association study” by Renato Polimanti et al. Nature Genetics
Abstract
Gene discovery and biological insights into anxiety disorders from a large-scale multi-ancestry genome-wide association study
We leveraged information from more than 1.2 million participants, including 97,383 cases, to investigate the genetics of anxiety disorders across five continental groups.
Through ancestry-specific and cross-ancestry genome-wide association studies, we identified 51 anxiety-associated loci, 39 of which were novel. In addition, polygenic risk scores derived from individuals of European descent were associated with anxiety in African, admixed American and East Asian groups.
The heritability of anxiety was enriched for genes expressed in the limbic system, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, metencephalon, entorhinal cortex and brain stem. Transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide analyses highlighted 115 genes associated with anxiety through brain-specific and cross-tissue regulation.
Anxiety also showed global and local genetic correlations with depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and widespread pleiotropy with several physical health domains.
Overall, this study expands our knowledge regarding the genetic risk and pathogenesis of anxiety disorders, highlighting the importance of investigating diverse populations and integrating multi-omics information.
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