Publication

Genome-wide association analyses identify 95 risk loci and provide insights into the neurobiology of post-traumatic stress disorder

Citation:
Nievergelt, C.M., Maihofer, A.X., Atkinson, E.G. et al. Genome-wide association analyses identify 95 risk loci and provide insights into the neurobiology of post-traumatic stress disorder. Nat Genet (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01707-9
Authored By:
Nievergelt, C.M., Maihofer, A.X., Atkinson, E.G. et al.
Abstract:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) genetics are characterized by lower discoverability than most other psychiatric disorders. The contribution to biological understanding from previous genetic studies has thus been limited. We performed a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across 1,222,882 individuals of European ancestry (137,136 cases) and 58,051 admixed individuals with African and Native American ancestry (13,624 cases). We identified 95 genome-wide significant loci (80 new). Convergent multi-omic approaches identified 43 potential causal genes, broadly classified as neurotransmitter and ion channel synaptic modulators (for example, GRIA1, GRM8 and CACNA1E), developmental, axon guidance and transcription factors (for example, FOXP2, EFNA5 and DCC), synaptic structure and function genes (for example, PCLO, NCAM1 and PDE4B) and endocrine or immune regulators (for example, ESR1, TRAF3 and TANK). Additional top genes influence stress, immune, fear and threat-related processes, previously hypothesized to underlie PTSD neurobiology. These findings strengthen our understanding of neurobiological systems relevant to PTSD pathophysiology, while also opening new areas for investigation.
Published in:
Nature Genetics

More Publications

March 5, 2024

Translational Psychiatry

Potential causal association between gut microbiome and posttraumatic stress disorder

January 29, 2024

Scientific Reports

Differential recruitment of brain circuits during fear extinction in non-stressed compared to stress resilient animals

December 29, 2023

Journal of Law and the Biosciences

Defusing the legal and ethical minefield of epigenetic applications in the military, defense, and security context

August 1, 2023

Journal of Psychopharmacology

Improving Translational Relevance in Preclinical Psychopharmacology (iTRIPP)

July 29, 2023

Frontiers in Neurology

Models and methods: a perspective of the impact of six IMI translational data-centric initiatives for Alzheimer’s disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders

July 6, 2023

Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine

Caring for Dementia Caregivers: Understanding Caregiver Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic