Examination of the shared genetic basis of anorexia nervosa and obsessive–compulsive disorder

Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Tourette Syndrome/Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are often comorbid and likely to share genetic risk factors. Hence, we examine their shared genetic background using a cross-disorder GWAS meta-analysis of 3495 AN cases, 2688 OCD cases, and 18,013 controls. We confirmed a high genetic correlation between AN and OCD (rg = 0.49 ± 0.13, p = 9.07 × 10−7) and a sizable SNP heritability (SNP h2 = 0.21 ± 0.02) for the cross-disorder phenotype. Although no individual loci reached genome-wide significance, the cross-disorder phenotype showed strong positive genetic correlations with other psychiatric phenotypes (e.g., rg = 0.36 with bipolar disorder and 0.34 with neuroticism) and negative genetic correlations with metabolic phenotypes (e.g., rg = −0.25 with body mass index and −0.20 with triglycerides). Follow-up analyses revealed that although AN and OCD overlap heavily in their shared risk with other psychiatric phenotypes, the relationship with metabolic and anthropometric traits is markedly stronger for AN than for OCD. We further tested whether shared genetic risk for AN/OCD was associated with particular tissue or cell-type gene expression patterns and found that the basal ganglia and medium spiny neurons were most enriched for AN–OCD risk, consistent with neurobiological findings for both disorders. Our results confirm and extend genetic epidemiological findings of shared risk between AN and OCD and suggest that larger GWASs are warranted.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2036-2046
Number of pages11
JournalMolecular psychiatry
Volume25
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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