Publication Date
5-1-2024
Journal
Nature Genetics
DOI
10.1038/s41588-024-01707-9
PMID
38637617
PMCID
PMC11396662
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
9-13-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Humans, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Neurobiology, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, White People, White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) genetics are characterized by lower discoverability than most other psychiatric disorders. The contribution to biological understanding from previous genetic studies has thus been limited. We performed a multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across 1,222,882 individuals of European ancestry (137,136 cases) and 58,051 admixed individuals with African and Native American ancestry (13,624 cases). We identified 95 genome-wide significant loci (80 new). Convergent multi-omic approaches identified 43 potential causal genes, broadly classified as neurotransmitter and ion channel synaptic modulators (for example, GRIA1, GRM8 and CACNA1E), developmental, axon guidance and transcription factors (for example, FOXP2, EFNA5 and DCC), synaptic structure and function genes (for example, PCLO, NCAM1 and PDE4B) and endocrine or immune regulators (for example, ESR1, TRAF3 and TANK). Additional top genes influence stress, immune, fear and threat-related processes, previously hypothesized to underlie PTSD neurobiology. These findings strengthen our understanding of neurobiological systems relevant to PTSD pathophysiology, while also opening new areas for investigation.
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