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Goldstein JM, Cherkerzian S, Tsuang MT, Petryshen TL. Sex differences in the genetic risk for schizophrenia: history of the evidence for sex-specific and sex-dependent effects. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2013; 162B:698-710. [PMID: 24132902 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2013] [Accepted: 03/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a long history to examinations of sex differences in the familial (and specifically, genetic) transmission of schizophrenia, there have been few investigators who have systematically and rigorously studied this issue. This is true even in light of population and clinical studies identifying significant sex differences in incidence, expression, neuroanatomic and functional brain abnormalities, and course of schizophrenia. This review highlights the history of work in this arena from studies of family transmission patterns, linkage and twin studies to the current molecular genetic strategies of large genome-wide association studies. Taken as a whole, the evidence supports the presence of genetic risks of which some are sex-specific (i.e., presence in one sex and not the other) or sex-dependent (i.e., quantitative differences in risk between the sexes). Thus, a concerted effort to systematically investigate these questions is warranted and, as we argue here, necessary in order to fully understand the etiology of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill M Goldstein
- Brigham & Women's Hospital Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Division of Women's Health, Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Boston, Massachusetts; Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
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Goldstein JM, Cherkerzian S, Seidman LJ, Petryshen TL, Fitzmaurice G, Tsuang MT, Buka SL. Sex-specific rates of transmission of psychosis in the New England high-risk family study. Schizophr Res 2011; 128:150-5. [PMID: 21334180 PMCID: PMC3085650 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2011.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2010] [Revised: 01/20/2011] [Accepted: 01/23/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Recent molecular genetic studies have demonstrated X-chromosome abnormalities in the transmission of psychosis, a finding that may contribute to understanding sex differences in the disorder. Using our family high risk paradigm, we tested the hypothesis that there are sex-specific patterns of transmission of psychosis and whether there is specificity comparing nonaffective- with affective-type psychoses. We identified 159 parents with psychoses (schizophrenia psychosis spectrum disorders (SPS, n=59) and affective (AP, n=100)) and 114 comparable, healthy control parents. 203 high risk (HR) and 147 control offspring were diagnostically assessed (185 females; 165 males). We compared the proportion of male:female offspring with psychoses by affected parent sex and the consistency for SPS compared to AP parents, and tested (using exact logistic regression) whether the male:female ratio for affected offspring differed significantly between affected mothers and affected fathers. Risk of psychosis in offspring was a function of the sex of the parent and offspring. Among ill mothers, 18.8% of their male offspring developed psychosis compared with 9.5% of their daughters. In contrast, among ill fathers, 3.1% of their male offspring developed psychosis compared with 15.2% of their daughters. The male:female ratio for affected offspring differed significantly (p < 0.05) between affected mothers and fathers. Similar patterns held for SPS and AP. Results demonstrated sex-specific transmission of psychosis regardless of psychosis-type and suggest X-linked inheritance. This has important implications for molecular genetic studies of psychoses underscoring the impact of one's gender on gene-brain-behavior phenotypes of SCZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill M Goldstein
- Brigham and Women's Hospital Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Division of Women's Health, Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Boston, MA 02120, USA.
| | - Sara Cherkerzian
- Brigham & Women’s Hospital Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Division of Women’s Health, Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology, Boston, MA, USA,Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Larry J Seidman
- Department of Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA,Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Public Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tracey L Petryshen
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA,Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Garrett Fitzmaurice
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School at McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Ming T Tsuang
- Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Public Psychiatry, Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA,University of California at San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Behavior Genomics, San Diego, CA, USA,Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics, Harvard School of Public Heath, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephen L Buka
- Brown University, Department of Community Health, Providence, RI, USA
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Abstract
While proteomics has excelled in several disciplines in biology (cancer, injury and aging), neuroscience and psychiatryproteomic studies are still in their infancy. Several proteomic studies have been conducted in different areas of psychiatric disorders, including drug abuse (morphine, alcohol and methamphetamine) and other psychiatric disorders (depression, schizophrenia and psychosis). However, the exact cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these conditions have not been fully investigated. Thus, one of the primary objectives of this review is to discuss psychoproteomic application in the area of psychiatric disorders, with special focus on substance- and drug-abuse research. In addition, we illustrate the potential role of degradomic utility in the area of psychiatric research and its application in establishing and identifying biomarkers relevant to neurotoxicity as a consequence of drug abuse. Finally, we will discuss the emerging role of systems biology and its current use in the field of neuroscience and its integral role in establishing a comprehensive understanding of specific brain disorders and brain function in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Firas H Kobeissy
- McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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Szatmari P, Maziade M, Zwaigenbaum L, Mérette C, Roy MA, Joober R, Palmour R. Informative phenotypes for genetic studies of psychiatric disorders. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2007; 144B:581-8. [PMID: 17219386 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.30426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Despite its initial promise, there has been both progress and some set backs in genetic studies of the major psychiatric disorders of childhood and adulthood. Finding true susceptibility genes may be delayed because the most genetically informative phenotypes are not being used on a regular basis in linkage analysis and association studies. It is highly likely that using alternative phenotypes instead of DSM diagnostic categories will lead more rapid success in the search for these susceptibility genes. The objective of this paper is to describe the different types of informative phenotypes that can be employed in psychiatric genetic studies, to clarify their uses, to identify several methodologic issues the design and conduct of linkage and association studies that use alternative phenotypes and finally to suggest possible solutions to those difficulties. This is a conceptual review with a focus on methodological issues that may arise in psychiatric genetics and examples are taken from the literature on autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Szatmari
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
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