@article {439, title = {DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs: A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan}, journal = {Molecular Psychiatry}, volume = {26}, year = {2021}, pages = {2148{\textendash}2162}, abstract = {

DNA methylation profiles of aggressive behavior may capture lifetime cumulative effects of genetic, stochastic, and environmental influences associated with aggression. Here, we report the first large meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of aggressive behavior (N = 15,324 participants). In peripheral blood samples of 14,434 participants from 18 cohorts with mean ages ranging from 7 to 68 years, 13 methylation sites were significantly associated with aggression (alpha = 1.2 $\times$ 10-7; Bonferroni correction). In cord blood samples of 2425 children from five cohorts with aggression assessed at mean ages ranging from 4 to 7 years, 83\% of these sites showed the same direction of association with childhood aggression (r = 0.7

}, doi = {10.1038/s41380-020-00987-x}, author = {van Dongen, Jenny and Hagenbeek, Fiona A and Suderman, Matthew and Roetman, Peter J and Sugden, Karen and Chiocchetti, Andreas G and Ismail, Khadeeja and Mulder, Rosa H and Hafferty, Jonathan D and Adams, Mark J and Walker, Rosie M and Morris, Stewart W and Lahti, Jari and K{\"u}pers, Leanne K and Escaramis, Georgia and Alemany, Silvia and Jan Bonder, Marc and Meijer, Mandy and Ip, Hill F and Jansen, Rick and Baselmans, Bart M L and Parmar, Priyanka and Lowry, Estelle and Streit, Fabian and Sirignano, Lea and Send, Tabea S and Frank, Josef and Jylh{\"a}v{\"a}, Juulia and Wang, Yunzhang and Mishra, Pashupati Prasad and Colins, Olivier F and Corcoran, David L and Poulton, Richie and Mill, Jonathan and Hannon, Eilis and Arseneault, Louise and Korhonen, Tellervo and Vuoksimaa, Eero and Felix, Janine F and Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J and Campbell, Archie and Czamara, Darina and Binder, Elisabeth and Corpeleijn, Eva and Gonzalez, Juan R and Grazuleviciene, Regina and Gutzkow, Kristine B and Evandt, Jorunn and Vafeiadi, Marina and Klein, Marieke and van der Meer, Dennis and Ligthart, Lannie and BIOS Consortium and Kluft, Cornelis and Davies, Gareth E and Hakulinen, Christian and Keltikangas-J{\"a}rvinen, Liisa and Franke, Barbara and Freitag, Christine M and Konrad, Kerstin and Hervas, Amaia and Fern{\'a}ndez-Rivas, Aranzazu and Vetro, Agnes and Raitakari, Olli and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Vermeiren, Robert and Strandberg, Timo and R{\"a}ikk{\"o}nen, Katri and Snieder, Harold and Witt, Stephanie H and Deuschle, Michael and Pedersen, Nancy L and H{\"a}gg, Sara and Sunyer, Jordi and Franke, Lude and Kaprio, Jaakko and Ollikainen, Miina and Moffitt, Terrie E and Tiemeier, Henning and van IJzendoorn, Marinus H and Relton, Caroline and Vrijheid, Martine and Sebert, Sylvain and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and Caspi, Avshalom and Evans, Kathryn L and McIntosh, Andrew M and Bartels, Meike and Boomsma, Dorret I} } @article {437, title = {Genetic association study of childhood aggression across raters, instruments, and age}, journal = {Translational Psychiatry}, volume = {11}, year = {2021}, pages = {413}, abstract = {

Childhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50\%. Here we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data, i.e., within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31\% (SE = 0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGGoverall. The gene-based analysis returned three significant genes: ST3GAL3 (P = 1.6E-06), PCDH7 (P = 2.0E-06), and IPO13 (P = 2.5E-06). All three genes have previously been associated with educational traits. Polygenic scores based on our GWAMA significantly predicted aggression in a holdout sample of children (variance explained = 0.44\%) and in retrospectively assessed childhood aggression (variance explained = 0.20\%). Genetic correlations (rg) among rater-specific assessment of AGG ranged from rg = 0.46 between self- and teacher-assessment to rg = 0.81 between mother- and teacher-assessment. We obtained moderate-to-strong rgs with selected phenotypes from multiple domains, but hardly with any of the classical biomarkers thought to be associated with AGG. Significant genetic correlations were observed with most psychiatric and psychological traits (range [Formula: see text]: 0.19-1.00), except for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aggression had a negative genetic correlation (rg = \ -0.5) with cognitive traits and age at first birth. Aggression was strongly genetically correlated with smoking phenotypes (range [Formula: see text]: 0.46-0.60). The genetic correlations between aggression and psychiatric disorders were weaker for teacher-reported AGG than for mother- and self-reported AGG. The current GWAMA of childhood aggression provides a powerful tool to interrogate the rater-specific genetic etiology of AGG.

}, doi = {10.1038/s41398-021-01480-x}, author = {Ip, Hill F and Van der Laan, Camiel M and Krapohl, Eva M L and Brikell, Isabell and S{\'a}nchez-Mora, Cristina and Nolte, Ilja M and St Pourcain, Beate and Bolhuis, Koen and Palviainen, Teemu and Zafarmand, Hadi and Colodro-Conde, Luc{\'\i}a and Gordon, Scott and Zayats, Tetyana and Aliev, Fazil and Jiang, Chang and Wang, Carol A and Saunders, Gretchen and Karhunen, Ville and Hammerschlag, Anke R and Adkins, Daniel E and Border, Richard and Peterson, Roseann E and Prinz, Joseph A and Thiering, Elisabeth and Sepp{\"a}l{\"a}, Ilkka and Vilor-Tejedor, Nat{\`a}lia and Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S and Day, Felix R and Hottenga, Jouke-Jan and Allegrini, Andrea G and Rimfeld, Kaili and Chen, Qi and Lu, Yi and Martin, Joanna and Soler Artigas, Mar{\'\i}a and Rovira, Paula and Bosch, Rosa and Espa{\~n}ol, Gemma and Ramos Quiroga, Josep Antoni and Neumann, Alexander and Ensink, Judith and Grasby, Katrina and Morosoli, Jos{\'e} J and Tong, Xiaoran and Marrington, Shelby and Middeldorp, Christel and Scott, James G and Vinkhuyzen, Anna and Shabalin, Andrey A and Corley, Robin and Evans, Luke M and Sugden, Karen and Alemany, Silvia and Sass, L{\ae}rke and Vinding, Rebecca and Ruth, Kate and Tyrrell, Jess and Davies, Gareth E and Ehli, Erik A and Hagenbeek, Fiona A and de Zeeuw, Eveline and van Beijsterveldt, Toos C E M and Larsson, Henrik and Snieder, Harold and Verhulst, Frank C and Amin, Najaf and Whipp, Alyce M and Korhonen, Tellervo and Vuoksimaa, Eero and Rose, Richard J and Uitterlinden, Andre G and Heath, Andrew C and Madden, Pamela and Haavik, Jan and Harris, Jennifer R and Helgeland, {\O}yvind and Johansson, Stefan and Knudsen, Gun Peggy S and Njolstad, Pal Rasmus and Lu, Qing and Rodriguez, Alina and Henders, Anjali K and Mamun, Abdullah and Najman, Jackob M and Brown, Sandy and Hopfer, Christian and Krauter, Kenneth and Reynolds, Chandra and Smolen, Andrew and Stallings, Michael and Wadsworth, Sally and Wall, Tamara L and Silberg, Judy L and Miller, Allison and Keltikangas-J{\"a}rvinen, Liisa and Hakulinen, Christian and Pulkki-R\aaback, Laura and Havdahl, Alexandra and Magnus, Per and Raitakari, Olli T and Perry, John R B and Llop, Sabrina and Lopez-Espinosa, Maria-Jose and B{\o}nnelykke, Klaus and Bisgaard, Hans and Sunyer, Jordi and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Arseneault, Louise and Standl, Marie and Heinrich, Joachim and Boden, Joseph and Pearson, John and Horwood, L John and Kennedy, Martin and Poulton, Richie and Eaves, Lindon J and Maes, Hermine H and Hewitt, John and Copeland, William E and Costello, Elizabeth J and Williams, Gail M and Wray, Naomi and Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta and McGue, Matt and Iacono, William and Caspi, Avshalom and Moffitt, Terrie E and Whitehouse, Andrew and Pennell, Craig E and Klump, Kelly L and Burt, S Alexandra and Dick, Danielle M and Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted and Martin, Nicholas G and Medland, Sarah E and Vrijkotte, Tanja and Kaprio, Jaakko and Tiemeier, Henning and Davey Smith, George and Hartman, Catharina A and Oldehinkel, Albertine J and Casas, Miquel and Ribas{\'e}s, Marta and Lichtenstein, Paul and Lundstr{\"o}m, Sebastian and Plomin, Robert and Bartels, Meike and Nivard, Michel G and Boomsma, Dorret I} } @article {440, title = {Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {12}, year = {2021}, pages = {5618}, abstract = {

Monozygotic (MZ) twins and higher-order multiples arise when a zygote splits during pre-implantation stages of development. The mechanisms underpinning this event have remained a mystery. Because MZ twinning rarely runs in families, the leading hypothesis is that it occurs at random. Here, we show that MZ twinning is strongly associated with a stable DNA methylation signature in adult somatic tissues. This signature spans regions near telomeres and centromeres, Polycomb-repressed regions and heterochromatin, genes involved in cell-adhesion, WNT signaling, cell fate, and putative human metastable epialleles. Our study also demonstrates a never-anticipated corollary: because identical twins keep a lifelong molecular signature, we can retrospectively diagnose if a person was conceived as monozygotic twin.

}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-021-25583-7}, author = {van Dongen, Jenny and Gordon, Scott D and McRae, Allan F and Odintsova, Veronika V and Mbarek, Hamdi and Breeze, Charles E and Sugden, Karen and Lundgren, Sara and Castillo-Fernandez, Juan E and Hannon, Eilis and Moffitt, Terrie E and Hagenbeek, Fiona A and van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E M and Jan Hottenga, Jouke and Tsai, Pei-Chien and BIOS Consortium and Genetics of DNA Methylation Consortium and Min, Josine L and Hemani, Gibran and Ehli, Erik A and Paul, Franziska and Stern, Claudio D and Heijmans, Bastiaan T and Slagboom, P Eline and Daxinger, Lucia and van der Maarel, Silv{\`e}re M and de Geus, Eco J C and Willemsen, Gonneke and Montgomery, Grant W and Reversade, Bruno and Ollikainen, Miina and Kaprio, Jaakko and Spector, Tim D and Bell, Jordana T and Mill, Jonathan and Caspi, Avshalom and Martin, Nicholas G and Boomsma, Dorret I} } @article {435, title = {Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction}, journal = {Nature Genetics}, volume = {53}, year = {2021}, pages = {35{\textendash}44}, abstract = {

Little is known about the genetic architecture of traits affecting educational attainment other than cognitive ability. We used genomic structural equation modeling and prior genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of educational attainment (n = 1,131,881) and cognitive test performance (n = 257,841) to estimate SNP associations with educational attainment variation that is independent of cognitive ability. We identified 157 genome-wide-significant loci and a polygenic architecture accounting for 57\% of genetic variance in educational attainment. Noncognitive genetics were enriched in the same brain tissues and cell types as cognitive performance, but showed different associations with gray-matter brain volumes. Noncognitive genetics were further distinguished by associations with personality traits, less risky behavior and increased risk for certain psychiatric disorders. For socioeconomic success and longevity, noncognitive and cognitive-performance genetics demonstrated associations of similar magnitude. By conducting a GWAS of a phenotype that was not directly measured, we offer a view of genetic architecture of noncognitive skills influencing educational success.

}, doi = {10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2}, author = {Demange, Perline A and Malanchini, Margherita and Mallard, Travis T and Biroli, Pietro and Cox, Simon R and Grotzinger, Andrew D and Tucker-Drob, Elliot M and Abdellaoui, Abdel and Arseneault, Louise and van Bergen, Elsje and Boomsma, Dorret I and Caspi, Avshalom and Corcoran, David L and Domingue, Benjamin W and Harris, Kathleen Mullan and Ip, Hill F and Mitchell, Colter and Moffitt, Terrie E and Poulton, Richie and Prinz, Joseph A and Sugden, Karen and Wertz, Jasmin and Williams, Benjamin S and de Zeeuw, Eveline L and Belsky, Daniel W and Harden, K Paige and Nivard, Michel G} } @article {411, title = {Epigenome-wide association study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in adults}, journal = {Biological Psychiatry}, volume = {86}, year = {2019}, pages = {599{\textendash}607}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and DNA methylation in children. We report the first epigenome-wide association study meta-analysis of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, based on peripheral blood DNA methylation (Infinium HumanMethylation450K array) in three population-based adult cohorts.

METHODS: An epigenome-wide association study was performed in the Netherlands Twin Register (N = 2258, mean age 37 years), Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (N = 800, age 38 years), and Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study (N = 1631, age 18 years), and results were combined through meta-analysis (total sample size N = 4689). Region-based analyses accounting for the correlation between nearby methylation sites were also performed.

RESULTS: One epigenome-wide significant differentially methylated position was detected in the Dunedin study, but meta-analysis did not detect differentially methylated positions that were robustly associated across cohorts. In region-based analyses, six significant differentially methylation regions (DMRs) were identified in the Netherlands Twin Register, 19 in the Dunedin study, and none in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Of these DMRs, 92\% were associated with methylation quantitative trait loci, and 68\% showed moderate to large blood-brain correlations for DNA methylation levels. DMRs included six nonoverlapping DMRs (three in the Netherlands Twin Register, three in the Dunedin study) in the major histocompatibility complex, which were associated with expression of genes in the major histocompatibility complex, including C4A and C4B, previously implicated in schizophrenia.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings point at new candidate loci involved in immune and neuronal functions that await further replication. Our work also illustrates the need for further research to examine to what extent epigenetic associations with psychiatric traits depend on characteristics such as age, comorbidities, exposures, and genetic background.

}, keywords = {ADHD, CAARS, DNA methylation, Epigenetic, EWAS, meta-analysis}, doi = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.02.016}, author = {van Dongen, Jenny and Zilh{\~a}o, Nuno R and Sugden, Karen and BIOS Consortium and Hannon, Eilis J and Mill, Jonathan and Caspi, Avshalom and Agnew-Blais, Jessica and Arseneault, Louise and Corcoran, David L and Moffitt, Terrie E and Poulton, Richie and Franke, Barbara and Boomsma, Dorret I} } @article {275, title = {A polygenic p factor for major psychiatric disorders}, journal = {Translational psychiatry}, volume = {8}, year = {2018}, month = {2018/10/02}, pages = {205205 - 205}, abstract = {

It has recently been proposed that a single dimension, called the p factor, can capture a person\&$\#$39;s liability to mental disorder. Relevant to the p hypothesis, recent genetic research has found surprisingly high genetic correlations between pairs of psychiatric disorders. Here, for the first time, we compare genetic correlations from different methods and examine their support for a genetic p factor. We tested the hypothesis of a genetic p factor by applying principal component analysis to matrices of genetic correlations between major psychiatric disorders estimated by three methods-family study, genome-wide complex trait analysis, and linkage-disequilibrium score regression-and on a matrix of polygenic score correlations constructed for each individual in a UK-representative sample of 7 026 unrelated individuals. All disorders loaded positively on a first unrotated principal component, which accounted for 57, 43, 35, and 22\% of the variance respectively for the four methods. Our results showed that all four methods provided strong support for a genetic p factor that represents the pinnacle of the hierarchical genetic architecture of psychopathology.

}, isbn = {2158-3188}, url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30279410}, author = {Saskia Selzam and Jonathan R I Coleman and Caspi, Avshalom and Moffitt, Terrie E and Robert Plomin} }