Summary: Researchers have found that schizophrenia shares a genetic risk with bipolar disorder and major depression, and that these vulnerabilities are more significant in men than women. The new study analyzed more than 3,000 people, finding that polygenic genes for different mental disorders contribute differently to psychosis risk based on gender.
These results highlight the importance of considering gender differences when studying the genetic mechanisms of mental disorders. The discovery opens new avenues for personalized approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental conditions.
Basic Facts:
- Schizophrenia shares genetic risk with bipolar disorder and depression.
- Genetic predisposition to mental disorders is higher in women.
- These findings may lead to personalized psychiatric treatment.
Source: University of Barcelona
A group of researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Center for Biomedical Research in the Mental Health Network (CIBERSAM) has published a pioneering study that reveals significant findings in the field of genetic psychology from the perspective of gender research. different.
First, the paper supports the existence of genetic overlap between schizophrenia and other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and major depression.
In addition, and in a new way, the study makes it clear that this is more important in men than in women with schizophrenia.
This study, published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacologyare professors Bárbara Arias and Araceli Rosa, from the Department of Biology at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and CIBERSAM. The first authors of this paper are Marina Mitjans (UB-IBUB-CIBERSAM) and Sergi Papiol, also a CIBERSAM member and researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich (Germany).
In this study, the authors analyzed a sample from CIBERSAM that included 1826 patients with psychosis and 1372 control patients. The aim was to evaluate how the polygenic score (PGS) for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depressive disorders contributes to the risk of developing mental illness, and how these associations differ between men and women.
“Our results highlight the idea that there are genetic factors that often cause the risk of developing these diseases, suggesting the existence of biological mechanisms between them,” Marina Mitjans, first author of the study and a member of the UB says. Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona (HSJD).
In addition, the results of this study show that there are differences between men and women in genetic vulnerability to mental illness, which may have important implications for understanding gender differences in Female prevalence, clinical presentation and treatment response.
“Our study shows the importance of considering gender differences in genetic studies to develop personalized strategies in prevention, diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice,” said Bárbara Arias, member of the The Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of UB and said department. -researcher of group G08 of CIBERSAM.
The main researchers of the study believe that “this study is an example of the power of collaboration between the CIBERSAM team to improve the understanding of the complex psychological problems”.
About genetics and mental health research reports
Author: Rosa Martinez
Source: University of Barcelona
Contact: Rosa MartÃnez – University of Barcelona
Photo: This image was published in Neuroscience News
Preliminary investigation: Open the opportunity.
“Shared trauma and sex-dependent polygenic burden in mental disorders” by Bárbara Arias et al. European Neuropsychopharmacology
Abstract
Shared vulnerability to sex-dependent polygenic burden in psychiatric disorders
Evidence for significant genetic association between mental disorders. However, differences based on sex have not been studied.
We investigated the contribution of schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) polygenic scores (PGS) to risk factors for mental disorders and whether sex-based differences exist (CIBERSAM sample: 1826 people disease and 1372 controls) .
All PGS are closely related to psychosis. The gender analysis shows that the explained difference in mental health problems is higher than men for all PGS.
Our results support genetic regulation across psychotic disorders and demonstrate sex-based differences in the vulnerability of psychotic disorders.
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