Publications by authors named "Thomas Als"

Bipolar disorder is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease. Despite high heritability (60-80%), the majority of the underlying genetic determinants remain unknown. We analysed data from participants of European, East Asian, African American and Latino ancestries (n = 158,036 cases with bipolar disorder, 2.

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  • The study explores how genetic factors (polygenic scores or PGS) for psychiatric disorders affect the treatment trajectories of individuals with early-onset Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in secondary care.
  • Researchers used data from a large Danish sample, analyzing 10,577 individuals diagnosed with MDD between ages 10-25 to identify different patterns of treatment over seven years.
  • Findings reveal specific associations between PGS for ADHD and anorexia with treatment trajectories, suggesting that while genetics may influence the path of depression treatment, the effects are small and not currently useful for predicting clinical outcomes.
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  • Tic disorders (TD) can significantly affect individuals and society, and understanding their genetic causes could lead to better treatments, as family history is a key risk factor.
  • A large-scale GWAS meta-analysis was conducted with nearly 10,000 TD cases and over 981,000 controls, revealing a significant genetic association, though it couldn't be replicated in another study.
  • The findings suggest a complex genetic landscape for TD, highlighting certain genes and brain regions involved, but additional research is needed to firmly establish reliable genetic links.
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High rates of metabolic risk factors contribute to premature mortality in patients with severe mental disorders, but the molecular underpinnings of this association are largely unknown. We performed the first analysis on shared genetic factors between severe mental disorders and metabolic traits considering the effect of sex. We applied an integrated analytical pipeline on the largest sex-stratified genome-wide association datasets available for bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia (SZ), and for body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (all including participants of European origin).

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  • - MDD and CVD commonly occur together, leading to higher health risks, and they share many genetic risk factors, with notable genetic overlaps found in specific brain regions like the thalamus.
  • - The research identified seven genetic loci linked to both disorders and highlighted that factors like inflammation and lifestyle contribute to the shared risk between MDD and atherosclerotic CVD.
  • - The findings suggest that genetic predisposition to MDD increases the risk of CVD, while the reverse is less evident, indicating a specific immunometabolic subtype of MDD that may be targeted for better prevention of CVD.
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  • - The study investigates childhood daytime urinary incontinence (DUI) by identifying genetic variants that increase the risk, shedding light on the condition which is often stigmatized and not well understood.
  • - A genome-wide association study was performed on a large cohort from Denmark and replicated in Iceland, discovering significant genetic variants on chromosomes 6 and 20 linked to genes involved in neuronal development and bladder function.
  • - The research found that DUI has a hereditary component and is genetically correlated with conditions like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and BMI, suggesting new directions for treatment options.
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  • Major depressive disorder (MDD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) often occur together, leading to increased health issues and mortality rates.
  • A study discovered that many genetic risk factors for CVD overlap with those for MDD, indicating a shared biological basis, particularly involving specific brain regions and cell types.
  • The findings suggest that genetic predisposition to MDD can increase the risk of developing CVD, while lifestyle and metabolic factors also play significant roles, potentially creating an immunometabolic subtype of MDD more closely linked with CVD.
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Major depressive disorder (MDD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are often comorbid, resulting in excess morbidity and mortality. Using genomic data, this study elucidates biological mechanisms, key risk factors, and causal pathways underlying their comorbidity. We show that CVDs share a large proportion of their genetic risk factors with MDD.

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  • 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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The Atlantic herring L has a vast geographical distribution and a complex population structure with a few very large migratory units and many small local populations. Each population has its own spawning ground and/or time, thereby maintaining their genetic integrity. Several herring populations migrate between common feeding grounds and over-wintering areas resulting in frequent mixing of populations.

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  • ADHD is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with a strong genetic basis, as shown in a large study involving 38,691 individuals with the disorder compared to 186,843 controls.
  • Researchers found 27 significant genomic regions linked to ADHD, with many genes related to early brain development and certain brain cell types, suggesting a biological basis for the disorder.
  • The study also highlighted that many genetic factors influencing ADHD overlap with other psychiatric conditions and are correlated with cognitive challenges, particularly in areas like attention and reasoning.
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  • Individuals with psychiatric disorders show different cognitive functions compared to the general population, often noticeable from an early age through varying school performances attributed to genetic factors.
  • A study involving nearly 31,000 people analyzed genetic influences on school performance in subjects like math and language, revealing a strong negative correlation between math abilities and risks for several psychiatric disorders.
  • In contrast, better language performance was positively associated with risks for disorders like schizophrenia, suggesting shared genetic links between language skills, creativity, and mental health issues.
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Here we present results from FarGen Phase I exomes. This dataset is based on the FarGen cohort, which consists of 1,541 individuals from the isolated population of the Faroe Islands. The purpose of this cohort is to serve as a reference catalog of coding variants, and to conduct population genetic studies to better understand the genetic contribution to various diseases in the Faroese population.

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  • Researchers explored the link between genetic risk and stressful life events in depression using a genome-wide by environment interaction study (GWEIS) involving over 18,000 patients and 20,000 controls.
  • The study identified three novel genetic loci associated with depression, but these findings did not replicate in a larger sample from the UK Biobank.
  • The conclusion suggests that more extensive collaborative studies are needed for future research to gain better insight into the gene-stress interactions in depression.
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  • ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) share significant genetic similarities, with researchers identifying seven shared genetic loci and five that differentiate the two conditions.
  • The differentiating loci show opposite genetic effects in ADHD and ASD and are linked to traits like educational achievement and brain volume, while shared genetics correlate with other psychiatric traits.
  • Individuals with both ADHD and ASD exhibit unique genetic patterns, suggesting that understanding these genetic influences can help clarify the biological underpinnings of each disorder and how they may impact cognitive and psychological traits differently.
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Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with onset in childhood (childhood ADHD); two-thirds of affected individuals continue to have ADHD in adulthood (persistent ADHD), and sometimes ADHD is diagnosed in adulthood (late-diagnosed ADHD). We evaluated genetic differences among childhood (n = 14,878), persistent (n = 1,473) and late-diagnosed (n = 6,961) ADHD cases alongside 38,303 controls, and rare variant differences in 7,650 ADHD cases and 8,649 controls. We identified four genome-wide significant loci for childhood ADHD and one for late-diagnosed ADHD.

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Background: Antidepressants are a first-line treatment for depression. However, only a third of individuals experience remission after the first treatment. Common genetic variation, in part, likely regulates antidepressant response, yet the success of previous genome-wide association studies has been limited by sample size.

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  • * Researchers discovered 287 genomic regions associated with schizophrenia, emphasizing genes specifically active in excitatory and inhibitory neurons, and identified 120 key genes potentially responsible for these associations.
  • * The findings highlight important biological processes related to neuronal function, suggesting overlaps between common and rare genetic variants in both schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders, ultimately aiding future research on these conditions.
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Background: Sex differences in incidence and/or presentation of schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BIP) are pervasive. Previous evidence for shared genetic risk and sex differences in brain abnormalities across disorders suggest possible shared sex-dependent genetic risk.

Methods: We conducted the largest to date genome-wide genotype-by-sex (G×S) interaction of risk for these disorders using 85,735 cases (33,403 SCZ, 19,924 BIP, and 32,408 MDD) and 109,946 controls from the PGC (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium) and iPSYCH.

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  • Bipolar disorder has a genetic basis and complex causes; a large study compared nearly 42,000 bipolar patients with over 371,000 healthy controls, revealing 64 genomic regions linked to the disorder.
  • The findings showed that risk-related genes are heavily associated with brain functions, particularly in areas like the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and they include targets for various medications.
  • The research also distinguished between bipolar disorder types I and II, revealing a close genetic relationship and highlighting 15 specific genes that could lead to new treatment options and further investigations.
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This cohort study examines the association of polygenic risk score for major depression with risk of recurrence in individuals diagnosed with unipolar depression in hospital-based settings and estimates the absolute risk of recurrence based on polygenic risk.

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Background: In this study, we examined the relationship between polygenic liability for depression and number of stressful life events (SLEs) as risk factors for early-onset depression treated in inpatient, outpatient or emergency room settings at psychiatric hospitals in Denmark.

Methods: Data were drawn from the iPSYCH2012 case-cohort sample, a population-based sample of individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2005. The sample included 18 532 individuals who were diagnosed with depression by a psychiatrist by age 31 years, and a comparison group of 20 184 individuals.

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Genetic association results are often interpreted with the assumption that study participation does not affect downstream analyses. Understanding the genetic basis of participation bias is challenging since it requires the genotypes of unseen individuals. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate comparative biases by performing a genome-wide association study contrasting one subgroup versus another.

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Background: Context: Methotrexate (MTX) is a cornerstone in the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). MTX treatment is commonly associated with nausea. Large inter-individual variation exists in the level of MTX-induced nausea, possibly due to genetic factors.

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