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Genome-wide interaction study of a proxy for stress-sensitivity and its prediction of major depressive disorder

  • Generation Scotland
  • , Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium
  • NHS in Aberdeen
  • University of Dundee
  • University of Edinburgh
  • University of Queensland
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • Broad Institute
  • Karolinska Institutet
  • Aarhus University
  • The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Adelaide University
  • Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry
  • Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy)
  • Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Statens Serum Institut
  • VU University Medical Center
  • Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavior Genetics
  • Emory University
  • Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
  • European Molecular Biology Laboratory
  • University of Lausanne
  • King's College London
  • Queensland Institute of Medical Research
  • Cardiff University
  • Duke University
  • University of Bonn
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Dokuz Eylul University
  • University of British Columbia
  • Harvard University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • University of Basel
  • Heidelberg University 
  • Trinity College Dublin
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Newcastle University
  • University of Copenhagen
  • Mental Health Services Capital Region of Denmark
  • H. Lundbeck A/S
  • The University of Sydney
  • University of Greifswald
  • F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • University of Southern California
  • Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  • Boston Children's Hospital
  • University of Oxford
  • Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
  • National Health Service Scotland
  • Columbia University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Children’s Health Queensland
  • University of Tartu
  • German Centre for Cardiovascular Research
  • Humus Inc
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Solid Biosciences
  • Washington University St. Louis
  • University of Granada
  • University of Groningen
  • Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
  • National Institutes of Health
  • University of Iceland
  • James Cook University Queensland
  • University of Glasgow
  • deCODE Genetics
  • University of Münster
  • University of California at San Diego
  • University of Oslo
  • University of Cambridge
  • Leiden University
  • Pfizer
  • Jülich Research Centre
  • University of Trento
  • University of Freiburg
  • University of Toronto
  • University College London
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • University of Tartu
  • University of Liverpool
  • University of Iowa
  • University of Göttingen
  • Dalhousie University
  • Stanford University
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Individual response to stress is correlated with neuroticism and is an important predictor of both neuroticism and the onset of major depressive disorder (MDD). Identification of the genetics underpinning individual differences in response to negative events (stress-sensitivity) may improve our understanding of the molecular pathways involved, and its association with stress-related illnesses. We sought to generate a proxy for stress-sensitivity through modelling the interaction between SNP allele and MDD status on neuroticism score in order to identify genetic variants that contribute to the higher neuroticism seen in individuals with a lifetime diagnosis of depression compared to unaffected individuals. Meta-analysis of genome-wide interaction studies (GWIS) in UK Biobank (N = 23,092) and Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (N = 7,155) identified no genome-wide significance SNP interactions. However, gene-based tests identified a genome-wide significant gene, ZNF366, a negative regulator of glucocorticoid receptor function implicated in alcohol dependence (p = 1.48×10 -7 ; Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold p < 2.79×10 -6 ). Using summary statistics from the stress-sensitivity term of the GWIS, SNP heritability for stress-sensitivity was estimated at 5.0%. In models fitting polygenic risk scores of both MDD and neuroticism derived from independent GWAS, we show that polygenic risk scores derived from the UK Biobank stress-sensitivity GWIS significantly improved the prediction of MDD in Generation Scotland. This study may improve interpretation of larger genome-wide association studies of MDD and other stress-related illnesses, and the understanding of the etiological mechanisms underpinning stress-sensitivity.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0209160
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume13
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

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