The biological relations between Attendion Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder

• Grant number: 22/04126-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Diego Luiz Rovaris
• Grantee: Clara Sabença Gusmão
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/05652-0 - The physiological genomics of mental health from the perspective of the Brazilian exposome, AP.JP

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are strongly correlated at both the epidemiological, clinical, and biological levels. Studies with twins and families show that ADHD presents one of the greatest heritability in the field, that is, the biology behind ADHD is extremely relevant for the manifestation of the disease. MDD, however, is a disorder with moderate heritability, that is, exposome variables (the totality of the non-genetic environment) have great influence on the etiology of the disease, besides the genomic component. As MDD is extremely heterogeneous, it is possible that some subtypes of the disease are more dependent on certain biological factors, such as variability in the genome, than others, and perhaps these subtypes are precisely those which have their biology shared with ADHD. In this project, we intend to study the biological relationship between ADHD and MDD through clinical and genomic data obtained from Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in two samples. We will investigate the differences in pathophysiology that result in comorbidity between ADHD and MDD compared to individuals presenting only ADHD, individuals who have only MDD and control individuals. In addition, the role of the heterogeneous Brazilian exposome (e.g., socioeconomic status) will be taken into account. (AU)