Sick psyche: Common features in the genetic make-up
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichFive very different mental illnesses show astonishing similarities in the genetic make-up. This is what US scientists found out in an international gene study with more than 60,000 participants. The results could revolutionize the diagnosis of psychiatric illnesses.
“Disturbances, which we considered to be quite different, may not be so clearly distinguishable from one another,” study author Jordan Smoller told Der Spiegel. Research teams in 19 countries examined the genome of more than 33,300 patients with autism, attention deficit disorder ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depression or schizophrenia. The scientists compared the data with those of almost 28,000 people without mental illness.
Same genetic causes
The result surprised the researchers, because they found the same four genetic changes in all five clinical pictures examined that did not occur in healthy people. Of particular interest to the scientists: deviations in two genes that regulate the flow of calcium in the brain. The substance plays an important role in the transmission of signals between individual nerve cells. “This change could make people more susceptible to mental disorders,” writes Smoller in the journal “The Lancet”. One of these genes had previously been linked to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Better diagnosis
The result of the large-scale study could improve the detection of mental illnesses. So far, doctors have relied on symptoms alone. The genetic analysis could help to confirm the diagnosis.
However, the study may also provide starting points for new therapies. Because in other diseases, calcium signaling pathways can be influenced with drugs. For example, high blood pressure is treated with drugs that regulate the flow of calcium into muscle cells. Nevertheless, Smoller warns against jumping to conclusions: "Mental illnesses arise from a complex interaction of numerous genes and other risk factors." (Ab)
Source: Cross-Disorder Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Identification of risk loci with shared effects on five major psychiatric disorders: a genome-wide analysis, The Lancet 2013, doi: 10.1016 / S0140-673662129-1
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