Psychiatry · 1 h ago
Genetic overlap links severe mental disorders with aging biomarkers
A genome-wide analysis examined shared genetic factors between bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia and several biomarkers of aging. The study found shared genetic signals across disorders and aging measures, including an association involving CRHR1 expression, major depression and brain-age measures.
- All three disorders showed negative genetic correlation with a longevity measure.
- MDD was linked to shorter predicted telomere length and higher epigenetic age acceleration.
- Nine genes had variants shared across aging biomarkers and all three disorders.
- CRHR1 expression findings do not establish treatment benefit.
Researchers used genome-wide methods to assess genetic overlap between bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia and a range of aging traits: multivariate longevity and healthy aging, brain-age gap, genetically predicted leukocyte telomere length, mitochondrial DNA copy number and epigenetic age acceleration. They also investigated shared variants and genes, functional enrichment and the potential suitability of identified genes as drug targets. The supplied report does not provide sample sizes or detailed effect estimates.
All three disorders were negatively correlated with the multivariate aging measure. MDD was also negatively correlated with genetically predicted telomere length and positively correlated with epigenetic age acceleration. Nine genes contained variants shared between aging biomarkers and all three disorders. Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization analyses associated increased CRHR1 expression in the prefrontal cortex with increased MDD risk and brain-age-gap measures.
The findings support shared genetic contributions to mental disorders and aging-related traits, but do not establish that accelerated aging causes these disorders or that targeting the identified genes would improve clinical outcomes. The results are genetic analyses, not evidence for a change in diagnosis or treatment.
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Molecular Psychiatry: Genome-wide analysis identifies pleiotropic genes shared between severe mental disorders and biomarkers of cellular aging ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.