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Genetic effects influencing risk for major depressive disorder in China and Europe

  • on behalf of the CONVERGE consortium and Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium
  • Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • Broad Institute
  • Harvard University
  • University of Queensland
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry
  • Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy)
  • Amsterdam UMC - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • University of Münster
  • University of Edinburgh
  • King's College London
  • Aarhus University
  • University of Basel
  • Jülich Research Centre
  • University of Bonn
  • Queensland Institute of Medical Research
  • Cardiff University
  • SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
  • Heidelberg University 
  • Trinity College Dublin
  • University of Greifswald
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • Washington University St. Louis
  • The University of Sydney
  • University of Southern California
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Columbia University
  • University of Liverpool
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
  • Florida Atlantic University
  • University of Iowa
  • University of Granada
  • University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen
  • Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
  • University of Göttingen
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Group Health
  • Leiden University Medical Center
  • Stanford University
  • University of Oxford
  • Karolinska Institutet
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • VU University Medical Centre
  • University Medicine Greifswald
  • Janssen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, complex psychiatric disorder and a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite twin studies indicating its modest heritability (∼30-40%), extensive heterogeneity and a complex genetic architecture have complicated efforts to detect associated genetic risk variants. We combined single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) summary statistics from the CONVERGE and PGC studies of MDD, representing 10 502 Chinese (5282 cases and 5220 controls) and 18 663 European (9447 cases and 9215 controls) subjects. We determined the fraction of SNPs displaying consistent directions of effect, assessed the significance of polygenic risk scores and estimated the genetic correlation of MDD across ancestries. Subsequent trans-ancestry meta-analyses combined SNP-level evidence of association. Sign tests and polygenic score profiling weakly support an overlap of SNP effects between East Asian and European populations. We estimated the trans-ancestry genetic correlation of lifetime MDD as 0.33; female-only and recurrent MDD yielded estimates of 0.40 and 0.41, respectively. Common variants downstream of GPHN achieved genome-wide significance by Bayesian trans-ancestry meta-analysis (rs9323497; log10 Bayes Factor = 8.08) but failed to replicate in an independent European sample (P = 0.911). Gene-set enrichment analyses indicate enrichment of genes involved in neuronal development and axonal trafficking. We successfully demonstrate a partially shared polygenic basis of MDD in East Asian and European populations. Taken together, these findings support a complex etiology for MDD and possible population differences in predisposing genetic factors, with important implications for future genetic studies.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1074
JournalTranslational psychiatry
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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