Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder associate with addiction

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked FilesWe use polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD) to predict smoking, and addiction to nicotine, alcohol or drugs in individuals not diagnosed with psychotic disorders. Using PRSs for 144 609 subjects, including 10 036 individuals admitted for in-patient addiction treatment and 35 754 smokers, we find that diagnoses of various substance use disorders and smoking associate strongly with PRSs for SCZ (P = 5.3 × 10-50 -1.4 × 10-6 ) and BPD (P = 1.7 × 10-9 -1.9 × 10-3 ), showing shared genetic etiology between psychosis and addiction. Using standardized scores for SCZ and BPD scaled to a unit increase doubling the risk of the corresponding disorder, the odds ratios for alcohol and substance use disorders range from 1.19 to 1.31 for the SCZ-PRS, and from 1.07 to 1.29 for the BPD-PRS. Furthermore, we show that as regular smoking becomes more stigmatized and less prevalent, these biological risk factors gain importance as determinants of the behavior.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under the Marie Curie Industry Academia Partnership and Pathways (PsychDPC

The Cascade, Katoomba, New South Wales [picture] /

Title from inscription on verso.; Part of collection: Collection of photographs of New South Wales, ca. 1876-1897.; Inscription: "The Cascade, Katoomba"--In pencil on verso.; "C. Bayliss Photo Sydney"--Photographer's blind stamp lower left.; Condition: Top left corner folded over.; Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4218560

Two pedal radios and a model aeroplane in a clear case at the John Flynn Memorial Church, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 1956 [transparency] /

Part of The Reverend Andrew Leslie McKay collection of photographs relating to Inland Australia, 1950-1976.; Condition: original image not in focus.; Colour loss across bottom and left side.; Photograph taken at the opening of the church in 1956.; Also available in an electronic version via the internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4181104; Collection donated by Mrs Lyn McKay, widow of Reverend Les McKay, through their daughter Dr. Judith McKay

A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease.

Contains fulltext : 69066.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death, causing about 5 million premature deaths worldwide each year. Evidence for genetic influence on smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence (ND) has prompted a search for susceptibility genes. Furthermore, assessing the impact of sequence variants on smoking-related diseases is important to public health. Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer (LC) and is one of the main risk factors for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Here we identify a common variant in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster on chromosome 15q24 with an effect on smoking quantity, ND and the risk of two smoking-related diseases in populations of European descent. The variant has an effect on the number of cigarettes smoked per day in our sample of smokers. The same variant was associated with ND in a previous genome-wide association study that used low-quantity smokers as controls, and with a similar approach we observe a highly significant association with ND. A comparison of cases of LC and PAD with population controls each showed that the variant confers risk of LC and PAD. The findings provide a case study of a gene-environment interaction, highlighting the role of nicotine addiction in the pathology of other serious diseases