Publications by authors named "G Athanasiadis"

African antelope diversity is a globally unique vestige of a much richer world-wide Pleistocene megafauna. Despite this, the evolutionary processes leading to the prolific radiation of African antelopes are not well understood. Here, we sequenced 145 whole genomes from both subspecies of the waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), an African antelope believed to be in the process of speciation.

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Background: Genome-wide association studies of COVID-19 severity have been carried out mostly on European or East Asian populations with small representation of other world regions. Here we explore the worldwide distribution and linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns of genetic variants previously associated with COVID-19 severity.

Methods: We followed up the results of a large Spanish genome-wide meta-analysis on 26 populations from the 1000 Genomes Project by calculating allele frequencies and LD scores of the nine most significant SNPs.

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Mental disorders are leading causes of disability and premature death worldwide, partly due to high comorbidity with cardiometabolic disorders. Reasons for this comorbidity are still poorly understood. We leverage nation-wide health records and near-complete genealogies of Denmark and Sweden (n = 17 million) to reveal the genetic and environmental contributions underlying the observed comorbidity between six mental disorders and 15 cardiometabolic disorders.

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Mental disorders (MDs) are leading causes of disability and premature death worldwide, partly due to high comorbidity with cardiometabolic disorders (CMDs). Reasons for this comorbidity are still poorly understood. We leverage nation-wide health records and complete genealogies of Denmark and Sweden (n=17 million) to reveal the genetic and environmental contributions underlying the observed comorbidity between six MDs and 14 CMDs.

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Article Synopsis
  • Depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder and major global disability, and a study involving over 1.3 million people identified 243 genetic risk loci, with 64 being newly discovered, many linked to glutamate and GABA receptor genes targeted by antidepressant medications.
  • The research showed depression is highly polygenic, meaning it's influenced by many genetic variants, with about 11,700 variants accounting for 90% of heritability; many of these variants also affect other psychiatric disorders and educational outcomes.
  • The study highlighted genetic and clinical differences within depression subgroups, indicating those with a higher polygenic burden face significantly increased risks for recurrence and other mental health issues, with notable differences based on sex.
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