A multi-environments-gene interaction study of anxiety, depression and self-harm in the UK Biobank cohort

J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Mar:147:59-66. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.01.009. Epub 2022 Jan 5.

Abstract

The effects of gene-by-environment (G×E) interactions on complex diseases are significant, especially the superimposed effects of multiple environmental factors. However, research on the multi-environments-gene interactions of anxiety, depression, and self-harm is still limited. This study included white individuals (N = 66,041-74,482) from the UK Biobank. We fitted all environmental factors to a single environmental score (ES), and the estimated ES was used to calculate the multiplicative interaction effects between ES and genome-wide SNPs. Heritability was stratified by minor allele frequency (MAF) and linkage disequilibrium (LD). Our research found 10 loci with significant interaction effects, such as rs114830993 (PRICKLE2, P = 2.30 × 10-8), rs151323364 (ASTN2, P = 2.71 × 10-10) and rs536631793 (SYN3, P = 4.09 × 10-8). In addition, we found that G×E heritability has a significant contribution to the depression of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores (h2G×E (female) = 6.1%, h2G×E (male) = 8.7%). Our research supported the important influence of multi-environments-gene interactions on anxiety, depression, and self-harm and provided clues for the prevention and etiological research of them.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Multi-environments-gene interaction; Self-harm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety / epidemiology
  • Anxiety / genetics
  • Biological Specimen Banks*
  • Female
  • Gene-Environment Interaction
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Self-Injurious Behavior* / epidemiology
  • Self-Injurious Behavior* / genetics
  • United Kingdom / epidemiology