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A putative causal relationship between genetically determined female body shape and posttraumatic stress disorder

  • for The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Workgroup
  • Yale University
  • Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of California at San Diego
  • Department of Family Medicine and Public Health
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Emory University
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • Washington University St. Louis
  • Biomedical Genetics
  • Boston University
  • RTI International
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Department of Environmental Health
  • Harvard University
  • Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Department of Genetics
  • Department of Biostatistics
  • Department of Epidemiology
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Broad Institute
  • Departments of Genetics and Neuroscience
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • Stanford University
  • Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit
  • Department of Epidemiology
  • Columbia University
  • Department of Epidemiology
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Division of Infectious Diseases
  • Duke University
  • Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System
  • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
  • Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
  • Cardiff University
  • Division of Human Genetics
  • University of Cape Town
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • McLean Hospital
  • Department of Health Care Policy
  • Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health
  • VA Medical Center
  • Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center
  • Division of Behavioral Genetics
  • Rhode Island Hospital
  • Brown University
  • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • Center for Cardiovascular Behavioral Health
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • Department of Neuroscience

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The nature and underlying mechanisms of the observed increased vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women are unclear. Methods: We investigated the genetic overlap of PTSD with anthropometric traits and reproductive behaviors and functions in women. The analysis was conducted using female-specific summary statistics from large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and a cohort of 3577 European American women (966 PTSD cases and 2611 trauma-exposed controls). We applied a high-resolution polygenic score approach and Mendelian randomization analysis to investigate genetic correlations and causal relationships. Results: We observed an inverse association of PTSD with genetically determined anthropometric traits related to body shape, independent of body mass index (BMI). The top association was related to BMI-adjusted waist circumference (WCadj; R = -0.079, P < 0.001, Q = 0.011). We estimated a relative decrease of 64.6% (95% confidence interval = 27.5-82.7) in the risk of PTSD per 1-SD increase in WCadj. MR-Egger regression intercept analysis showed no evidence of pleiotropic effects in this association (Ppleiotropy = 0.979). We also observed associations of genetically determined WCadj with age at first sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners (P = 0.013 and P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: There is a putative causal relationship between genetically determined female body shape and PTSD, which could be mediated by evolutionary mechanisms involved in human sexual behaviors.

Original languageEnglish
Article number99
JournalGenome Medicine
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Nov 2017
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
VA National Center for PTSD Research
National Institutes of HealthU01 MH109532
National Institute of Mental HealthR01MH106595

    Keywords

    • Anthropometric traits
    • Genetics
    • Trauma
    • Women

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