Shared and Specific Genes in Psychiatric Disorders

A transcriptomic profiling analysis revealed that there were shared and distinct gene-expression patterns across five major psychiatric disorders—autism (ASD), schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD), depression (MDD), and alcoholism (AAD)—compared with matched controls. Brain transcriptomes—a quantitative, genome-wide molecular phenotype—were performed using 700 cerebral cortical samples from subjects with ASD (n = 50), SCZ (n = 159), BD (n = 94), MDD (n = 87), AAD (n = 17), and matched controls (n = 293). Inflammatory bowel disease (n = 197) was included as a non-neural comparison. There was a gradient of synaptic gene down-regulation, with ASD > SZ ≈ BD. BD and SCZ appear most similar in terms of synaptic dysfunction and astroglial gene up-regulation. ASD showed a distinct up-regulated microglial signature. MDD exhibited dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary axis and hormonal signaling. However, genetic variation is not the only driver of gene expression variation; there is undoubtedly a contribution from environmental effects. Source: http://science.sciencemag.org/