| Literature DB >> 31797917 |
Joey Ward1, Laura M Lyall1, Richard A I Bethlehem2, Amy Ferguson1, Rona J Strawbridge1,3, Donald M Lyall1, Breda Cullen1, Nicholas Graham1, Keira J A Johnston1, Mark E S Bailey4, Graham K Murray2, Daniel J Smith5.
Abstract
Anhedonia is a core symptom of several psychiatric disorders but its biological underpinnings are poorly understood. We performed a genome-wide association study of state anhedonia in 375,275 UK Biobank participants and assessed for genetic correlation between anhedonia and neuropsychiatric conditions (major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and Parkinson's Disease). We then used a polygenic risk score approach to test for association between genetic loading for anhedonia and both brain structure and brain function. This included: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments of total grey matter volume, white matter volume, cerebrospinal fluid volume, and 15 cortical/subcortical regions of interest; diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures of white matter tract integrity; and functional MRI activity during an emotion processing task. We identified 11 novel loci associated at genome-wide significance with anhedonia, with a SNP heritability estimate (h2SNP) of 5.6%. Strong positive genetic correlations were found between anhedonia and major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; but not with obsessive compulsive disorder or Parkinson's Disease. Polygenic risk for anhedonia was associated with poorer brain white matter integrity, smaller total grey matter volume, and smaller volumes of brain regions linked to reward and pleasure processing, including orbito-frontal cortex. In summary, the identification of novel anhedonia-associated loci substantially expands our current understanding of the biological basis of state anhedonia and genetic correlations with several psychiatric disorders confirm the utility of this phenotype as a transdiagnostic marker of vulnerability to mental illness. We also provide the first evidence that genetic risk for state anhedonia influences brain structure, including in regions associated with reward and pleasure processing.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2019 PMID: 31797917 PMCID: PMC6892870 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-019-0635-y
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Transl Psychiatry ISSN: 2158-3188 Impact factor: 6.222
Fig. 1Anhedonia GWAS results.
Results are presented as a Manhattan Plot and as a QQ plot (inset). Association analysis p-values for each SNP are plotted (as –log10(p)) vs. chromosomal position. The red and blue lines indicate the genome-wide significant and suggestive p-value thresholds, respectively. The QQ plot shows observed vs expected p-values for every SNP.
Genetic correlations of anhedonia with psychiatric phenotypes.
| Trait | rg | S.E. | Z | p | q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MDD | 0.771 | 0.0306 | 25.2033 | 3.68E-140 | 1.84E-139 |
| Schizophrenia | 0.28 | 0.0353 | 7.9345 | 2.11E-15 | 5.28E-15 |
| Bipolar | 0.122 | 0.038 | 3.2187 | 0.00129 | 0.002 |
| Parkinson’s Disease | 0.0584 | 0.0837 | 0.6978 | 0.4853 | 0.60 |
| OCD | −0.0023 | 0.0618 | −0.0372 | 0.9704 | 0.97 |
rg genetic correlation with mood instability, S.E. standard error of the genetic correlation, Z the test statistic, p the p value, q the False discovery rate corrected p value. MDD major depressive disorder, PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder.
Fig. 2Plots of associations (regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) between polygenic risk for anhedonia and a regional volumes of cortical/subcortical ROIs; b tract-specific fractional anisotropy; and c tract-specific mean diffusivity.