The risk of schizophrenia in children associated with younger and older maternal age appears to be partly explained by the genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry.
S. Hong Lee, Ph.D., of the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, and coauthors investigated the genetic relationship between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women using multiple independent genome-wide association study data sets.
“In summary, this study provides evidence for a significant overlap between genetic factors associated with risk of SCZ [schizophrenia] and genetic factors associated with AFB [age at first birth]. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore a genetic relationship between SCZ and AFB using independent unrelated samples based on genomic data. We conclude that women with high genetic predisposition to SCZ tend to have their first child at an early age or a later age compared with women in the general population,” the study concludes.
Source: S. Hong Lee – JAMA Network
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Original Research: Full open access research for “Evidence for Genetic Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Age at First Birth in Women” by Divya Mehta, PhD; Felix C. Tropf, MSc; Jacob Gratten, PhD; Andrew Bakshi, MSc; Zhihong Zhu, PhD; Silviu-Alin Bacanu, PhD; Gibran Hemani, PhD; Patrik K. E. Magnusson, PhD; Nicola Barban, PhD; Tõnu Esko, PhD; Andres Metspalu, MD; Harold Snieder, PhD; Bryan J. Mowry, MD; Kenneth S. Kendler, MD; Jian Yang, PhD; Peter M. Visscher, PhD; John J. McGrath, MD; Melinda C. Mills, PhD; Naomi R. Wray, PhD; S. Hong Lee, PhD; for the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, LifeLines Cohort Study, and TwinsUK in JAMA Psychiatry. Published online March 23 2016 doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0129
Evidence for Genetic Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Age at First Birth in Women
Importance A recently published study of national data by McGrath et al in 2014 showed increased risk of schizophrenia (SCZ) in offspring associated with both early and delayed parental age, consistent with a U-shaped relationship. However, it remains unclear if the risk to the child is due to psychosocial factors associated with parental age or if those at higher risk for SCZ tend to have children at an earlier or later age.
Objective To determine if there is a genetic association between SCZ and age at first birth (AFB) using genetically informative but independently ascertained data sets.
Design, Setting, and Participants This investigation used multiple independent genome-wide association study data sets. The SCZ sample comprised 18 957 SCZ cases and 22 673 controls in a genome-wide association study from the second phase of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, and the AFB sample comprised 12 247 genotyped women measured for AFB from the following 4 community cohorts: Estonia (Estonian Genome Center Biobank, University of Tartu), the Netherlands (LifeLines Cohort Study), Sweden (Swedish Twin Registry), and the United Kingdom (TwinsUK). Schizophrenia genetic risk for each woman in the AFB community sample was estimated using genetic effects inferred from the SCZ genome-wide association study.
Main Outcomes and Measures We tested if SCZ genetic risk was a significant predictor of response variables based on published polynomial functions that described the relationship between maternal age and SCZ risk in offspring in Denmark. We substituted AFB for maternal age in these functions, one of which was corrected for the age of the father, and found that the fit was superior for the model without adjustment for the father’s age.
Results We observed a U-shaped relationship between SCZ risk and AFB in the community cohorts, consistent with the previously reported relationship between SCZ risk in offspring and maternal age when not adjusted for the age of the father. We confirmed that SCZ risk profile scores significantly predicted the response variables (coefficient of determination R2 = 1.1E-03, P = 4.1E-04), reflecting the published relationship between maternal age and SCZ risk in offspring by McGrath et al in 2014.
Conclusions and Relevance This study provides evidence for a significant overlap between genetic factors associated with risk of SCZ and genetic factors associated with AFB. It has been reported that SCZ risk associated with increased maternal age is explained by the age of the father and that de novo mutations that occur more frequently in the germline of older men are the underlying causal mechanism. This explanation may need to be revised if, as suggested herein and if replicated in future studies, there is also increased genetic risk of SCZ in older mothers.
“Evidence for Genetic Overlap Between Schizophrenia and Age at First Birth in Women” by Divya Mehta, PhD; Felix C. Tropf, MSc; Jacob Gratten, PhD; Andrew Bakshi, MSc; Zhihong Zhu, PhD; Silviu-Alin Bacanu, PhD; Gibran Hemani, PhD; Patrik K. E. Magnusson, PhD; Nicola Barban, PhD; Tõnu Esko, PhD; Andres Metspalu, MD; Harold Snieder, PhD; Bryan J. Mowry, MD; Kenneth S. Kendler, MD; Jian Yang, PhD; Peter M. Visscher, PhD; John J. McGrath, MD; Melinda C. Mills, PhD; Naomi R. Wray, PhD; S. Hong Lee, PhD; for the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, LifeLines Cohort Study, and TwinsUK in JAMA Psychiatry. Published online March 23 2016 doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0129
