Infection Polygenic Factors Account for a Small Proportion of the Relationship Between Infections and Mental Disorders

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Fulltext

    Final published version, 286 KB, PDF document

Background: Several recent studies have suggested a role for infections in the development of mental disorders; however, the genetic contribution to this association is understudied. Methods: We use the iPSYCH case-cohort genotyped sample (n = 65,534) and Danish health care registry data to study the genetic association between infections and mental disorders. To test the hypothesis that these associations are due to genetic pleiotropy, we estimated the genetic correlation between infection and mental disorders. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were used to assess whether genetic pleiotropy of infections and mental disorders was mediated by actual infection diagnoses. Results: We observed that schizophrenia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (rg ranging between 0.18 and 0.83), but not autism spectrum disorder and anorexia nervosa, were significantly genetically correlated with infection diagnoses. PRSs for infections were associated with modest increase in risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia in the iPSYCH case-cohort (hazard ratios = 1.04 to 1.10) but was not associated with risk of anorexia, autism, or bipolar disorder. Using mediation analysis, we show that infection diagnoses account for only a small proportion (6%–14%) of the risk for mental disorders conferred by infection PRSs. Conclusions: Infections and mental disorders share a modest genetic architecture. Infection PRSs can predict risk of certain mental disorders; however, this effect is moderate. Finally, recorded infections partially explain the relationship between infection PRSs and mental disorders.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBiological Psychiatry
Volume92
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)283-290
ISSN0006-3223
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Society of Biological Psychiatry

    Research areas

  • Concordance index, Genetic correlation, iPSYCH, Mediation analysis, Pleiotropy, Polygenic risk score

ID: 305715749