Common psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression are related to biological mechanisms related to immune function and DNA regulation , according to new findings from a large research project in which the Psychiatric has collaborated Genomics Consortium , the University of California, Los Angeles (USA), Kings College London (UK), Cardiff University (UK), Harvard University (USA) and the Institute of Technology of Massachusetts (MIT).
Until now, it had not been clear how genetic differences increased the risk of developing psychiatric diseases such as those mentioned by altering brain function. For their experiment, the researchers analyzed genetic data from more than 60,000 participants , including patients with severe depression, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a control group of healthy patients.
By gathering all the genetic data, the scientists discovered that genes related to immune function and changes in the molecular methylation of histones that alter DNA expression were risk factors associated with the development of all the disorders under study.
“The success of this approach supports the usefulness of pathway and network analyzes in understanding psychiatric illness. This is an approach that will only become more powerful as more mechanisms are identified with the studies yet to come in the coming years, ”explains Daniel Geschwind, co-author of the study.
The work has been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience .
