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Depression and Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Risks of Mood Disorders
Bipolar disorder (BD) and major depression (MD) were found to share a genetic vulnerability to mood disorders—high genetic risk of MD pointed to likelihood of anxiety disorders and high genetic risk of BD pointed to high probability of psychosis, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.
“Hypotheses that BD and MD are either genetically distinct or genetically closely interrelated were not supported,” lead author Kenneth S Kendler, MD, and co-authors noted. “Both BD and MD were associated with a genetic vulnerability to mood disorders, but even that liability was partially selective.”
Because the genetic relationship between MD and BD is still very obscure, researchers sought to examine and better understand the relationship between genetic risk of MD and BD through a top-down genetic approach.
Data of Swedish individuals was analyzed with follow-up through the end of 2018. The data included family genetic risk scores for MD and BD and International Classification of Diseases codes for a range of disorders as reported in primary care, specialist, and hospital registries.
Data for the 2,736,950 participants showed that high genetic liability to BD increased risk for nonpsychotic BD, psychotic BD, and schizoaffective disorder. High genetic liability to MD increased risk for nonpsychotic MD, anxiety disorders, and nonpsychotic BD. High genetic likelihood for both disorders had the strongest association with risk for nonpsychotic BD, anxiety disorders, and nonpsychotic MD.
“Clarifying the genetic relationship between pairs of psychiatric disorders can be aided by moving beyond a consideration of risks solely for those 2 disorders to examine profiles of risk to a broader set of conditions,” researchers concluded.
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