Dissecting the causal role of anthropometric traits in the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder in women

• Grant number: 18/05995-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): August 06, 2018
• Effective date (End): May 09, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Grantee: Carolina Muniz Felix de Carvalho
• Supervisor: Renato Polimanti
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/26473-8 - Search for genetic, epigenetic and molecular markers of post-traumatic stress disorder, BP.DR

Abstract

Women's higher risk for Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) likely arises from biologic and social/environmental factors. The current results of PTSD GWAS have indicated that there are genetic differences between women and men in the predisposition to PTSD. Polimanti and colleagues (2017) observed a strong causal association between female body shape (anthropometric traits) and the risk to develop PTSD. We hypothesized that female-specific genetic factors contribute to this sex-difference in the genetics of PTSD. Our aim is to investigate the causal relationship of anthropometric traits in the risk of PTSD in women. To evaluate this hypothesis, we will conduct a genome-wide polygenic risk score (PRS) and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses in PTSD female sample from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and PTSD Brazilian cohort, using GWAS summary statistics of female-specific traits together with a mixture-of- experts machine learning framework for MR. We will also use appropriate computation methods to investigate cohorts including individuals with different ancestral backgrounds. All techniques, analyses and the bioinformatics training will be developed in collaboration with Dr. Renato Polimanti's group in the Division of Human Genetics (Psychiatry) at Yale University School of Medicine. The results of this study may help to identify potential genetic markers of vulnerability to PTSD and to find the gender differences associated with PTSD. (AU)

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CARVALHO, CAROLINA MUNIZ; WENDT, FRANK R.; MAIHOFER, ADAM X.; STEIN, DAN J.; STEIN, MURRAY B.; SUMNER, JENNIFER A.; HEMMINGS, SIAN M. J.; NIEVERGELT, CAROLINE M.; KOENEN, KARESTAN C.; GELERNTER, JOEL; et al. Dissecting the genetic association of C-reactive protein with PTSD, traumatic events, and social support. NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, v. 46, n. 6, MAR 2020. (18/05995-4)

CARVALHO, CAROLINA MUNIZ; WENDT, FRANK R.; STEIN, DAN J.; STEIN, MURRAY B.; GELERNTER, JOEL; BELANGERO, SINTIA I.; POLIMANTI, RENATO. Investigating Causality Between Blood Metabolites and Emotional and Behavioral Responses to Traumatic Stress: a Mendelian Randomization Study. Molecular Neurobiology, v. 57, n. 3, NOV 2019. (18/05995-4)

WENDT, FRANK R.; CARVALHO, CAROLINA MUNIZ; PATHAK, GITA A.; GELERNTER, JOEL; POLIMANTI, RENATO. Deciphering the Biological Mechanisms Underlying the Genome-Wide Associations between Computerized Device Use and Psychiatric Disorders. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE, v. 8, n. 12, DEC 2019. (18/05995-4)

WENDT, FRANK R.; CARVALHO, CAROLINA MUNIZ; PATHAK, GITA A.; GELERNTER, JOEL; POLIMANTI, RENATO. Polygenic risk for autism spectrum disorder associates with anger recognition in a neurodevelopment-focused phenome-wide scan of unaffected youths from a population-based cohort. PLOS GENETICS, v. 16, n. 9, p. 16-pg., 2020-09-01. (18/05995-4)

CARVALHO, CAROLINA MUNIZ; WENDT, FRANK R.; PATHAK, GITA A.; MAIHOFER, ADAM X.; STEIN, DAN J.; SUMNER, JENNIFER A.; HEMMINGS, SIAN M. J.; NIEVERGELT, CAROLINE M.; KOENEN, KARESTAN C.; GELERNTER, JOEL; et al. Disentangling sex differences in the shared genetic architecture of posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic experiences, and social support with body size and composition. NEUROBIOLOGY OF STRESS, v. 15, NOV 2021. (18/05995-4)