Shared Genetic Factors of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Brazilian Family-Based Cohort, the Baependi Heart Study

To investigate the phenotypic and genetic overlap between anxiety and depression symptoms in an admixed population from extended family pedigrees. Participants (n = 1,375) were recruited from a cohort of 93 families (mean age±SD 42±16.3, 57% female) in the rural town of Baependi, Brazil. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess depression and anxiety symptoms. Heritability estimates were obtained by an adjusted variance component model. Bivariate analyses were performed to obtain the partition of the covariance of anxiety and depression into genetic and environmental components, and to calculate the genetic contribution modulating both sets of symptoms. Anxiety and depression scores were 7.49±4.01 and 5.70±3.82, respectively. Mean scores were affected by age and were significantly higher in women. Heritability for depression and anxiety, corrected for age and sex, were 0.30 and 0.32, respectively. Significant genetic correlations (ρg = 0.81) were found between anxiety and depression scores; thus, nearly 66% of the total genetic variance in one set of symptoms was shared with the other set. Our results provided strong evidence for a genetic overlap between anxiety and depression symptoms, which has relevance for our understanding of the biological basis of these constructs and could be exploited in genome-wide association studies

Cohort profile : the Baependi Heart Study-a family-based, highly admixed cohort study in a rural Brazilian town

PURPOSE: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major challenge to global health. The same epidemiological transition scenario is replayed as countries develop, but with variations based on environment, culture and ethnic mixture. The Baependi Heart Study was set up in 2005 to develop a longitudinal family-based cohort study that reflects on some of the genetic and lifestyle-related peculiarities of the Brazilian populations, in order to evaluate genetic and environmental influences on CVD risk factor traits. PARTICIPANTS: Probands were recruited in Baependi, a small rural town in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, following by first-degree and then increasingly more distant relatives. The first follow-up wave took place in 2010, and the second in 2016. At baseline, the study evaluated 1691 individuals across 95 families. Cross-sectional data have been collected for 2239 participants. FINDINGS TO DATE: Environmental and lifestyle factors and measures relevant to cardiovascular health have been reported. Having expanded beyond cardiovascular health outcomes, the phenotype datasets now include genetics, biochemistry, anthropometry, mental health, sleep and circadian rhythms. Many of these have yielded heritability estimates, and a shared genetic background of anxiety and depression has recently been published. In spite of universal access to electricity, the population has been found to be strongly shifted towards morningness compared with metropolitan areas. FUTURE PLANS: A new follow-up, marking 10 years of the study, is ongoing in 2016, in which data are collected as in 2010 (with the exception of the neuropsychiatric protocol). In addition to this, a novel questionnaire package collecting information about intelligence, personality and spirituality is being planned. The data set on circadian rhythms and sleep will be amended through additional questionnaires, actimetry, home sleep EEG recording and dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) analysis. Finally, the anthropometric measures will be expanded by adding three-dimensional facial photography, voice recording and anatomical brain MRI

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

New records of marsupials from the Miocene of Western Amazonia, Acre, Brazil

The Amazonian region covers a significant part of the South American continent and harbors outstanding biodiversity. However, much of its history is still unknown. This situation has begun to change with paleontological field efforts over the last decades, which have been proving that fossils can be common in this region. Despite their great current species richness and abundance in the area today, marsupials have a sparse fossil record, restricted to a few specimens from handful Cenozoic Amazonian localities. Here we present new records of fossil marsupial teeth from the Solimões Formation (lower Eocene–Pliocene), on the Juruá and Envira riverbanks (Acre, Northwestern Brazil). The localities investigated yield at least four distinct didelphid didelphimorphians at PRE 06 (Ponto Rio Envira: Marmosini ?Marmosa sp., Didelphis cf. D. solimoensis, Thylamys? colombianus, plus unidentified didelphids), and two paucituberculatans from the Juruá River localities (Ponto Rio Juruá: the palaeothentid Palaeothentinae indet. at PRJ 25 and PRJ 33’, and Abderitidae indet. from PRJ 33). In agreement with the associated mammalian faunas, most of the didelphids, except for Thylamys? colombianus from PRE 06, indicate a (?early) Late Miocene age for this locality. Conversely, the abderitid specimens found in situ at PRJ 33 would match a Middle Miocene age. The palaeothentids found at PRJ 25 and PRJ 33’ localities cannot be considered for biostratigraphic inferences, since they were found outside a stratigraphic context. Nevertheless, these paucituberculatans considerably add to our knowledge, as they are the first ever recorded in Brazilian Amazonia

An eosimiid primate of South Asian affinities in the Paleogene of Western Amazonia and the origin of New World monkeys

Recent fossil discoveries in Western Amazonia revealed that two distinct anthropoidprimate clades of African origin colonized South America near the Eocene/Oligocenetransition (ca. 34 Ma). Here, we describe a diminutive fossil primate from BrazilianAmazonia and suggest that, surprisingly, a third clade of anthropoids was involved in thePaleogene colonization of South America by primates. This new taxon, Ashaninkacebussimpsoni gen. et sp. nov., has strong dental affinities with Asian African stem anthropoids:the Eosimiiformes. Morphology-based phylogenetic analyses of early Old Worldanthropoids and extinct and extant New World monkeys (platyrrhines) support relationshipsof both Ashaninkacebus and Amamria (late middle Eocene, North Africa) to the South Asian Eosimiidae. Afro-Arabia, then a mega island, played the role of a biogeographic stopover between South Asia and South America for anthropoid primates and hystricognathous rodents. The earliest primates from South America bear little adaptive resemblance to later Oligocene-early Miocene platyrrhine monkeys, and the scarcity of available paleontological data precludes elucidating firmly their affinities with or within Platyrrhini. Nonetheless, these data shed light on some of their life history traits, revealing a particularly small body size and a diet consisting primarily of insectsand possibly fruit, which would have increased their chances of survival on a natural floating island during this extraordinary over-water trip to South America from Africa. Divergence-time estimates between Old and New World taxa indicate that the transatlantic dispersal(s) could source in the intense flooding events associated with the late middle Eocene climatic optimum (ca. 40.5 Ma) in Western Africa.Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Institut de Recherche Pour Le Developpement; FranciaFil: Negri, Francisco. Universidade Federal Do Acre; BrasilFil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Institut de Recherche Pour Le Developpement; FranciaFil: Stutz, Narla S.. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Institut de Recherche Pour Le Developpement; Francia. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Condamine, Fabien. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Institut de Recherche Pour Le Developpement; FranciaFil: Kerber, Leonardo. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Ventura Santos, Roberto. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Alvim, André M. V.. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Hsiou, Annie S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Bissaro Jr., Marcos C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Adami Rodrigues, Karen. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Ribeiro, Ana Maria. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura. Museu de Ciências Naturais. Seção de Paleontologia ; Brasi

Mean HADS-A scores across age categories.

<p>Mean HADS-A scores across age categories.</p

Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.

<p>^a Monthly Income in Brazilian Real</p><p>Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.</p

Bivariate analysis.

<p>ρ_p = phenotypic correlation; ρ_g = genetic correlation; ρ_e = environmental correlation. Values are shown with standard deviation for ρ_g and ρ_e.</p><p>Bivariate analysis.</p