Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Change to a Plant-Based Diet Has No Effect on Strength Performance in Trained Persons in the First 8 Weeks—A 16-Week Controlled Pilot Study

Over the past few years, the number of people who have avoided animal products has been rising steadily. A plant-based diet is associated with a healthier lifestyle and has positive effects on various diseases. More and more healthy active people and performance-orientated athletes are giving up animal products for various reasons, such as for an improved performance or faster regeneration. However, the data in this context are limited. This study aimed to obtain initial findings on the influence of a diet change to veganism on the performance of strength-trained individuals. For this study, a total of 15 omnivorous individuals were recruited. They documented their dietary food intakes over 16 weeks. Every four weeks, the strength performance was tested via a leg press and bench press. In the first 8 weeks, the participants maintained their omnivorous diet, followed by 8 weeks of a vegan dietary phase. In total, 10 subjects participated successfully, and their data were part of the statistical analyses. There was no difference in the absolute and relative strength performance for the leg and bench press after changing to a vegan diet. For the total calorie intake and carbohydrates, only a small treatment effect, but no time effect, was observed. However, for the protein intake, a time and group effect were detected. In addition, the relative protein intake decreased significantly and was lower than the current recommendations for athletes. The results demonstrate that a change to a vegan diet has no beneficial nor negative effect on the strength performance when the total calorie intake and carbohydrate content are covered in the first 8 weeks

Exercise Interventions Combined With Dietary Supplements in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients-A Systematic Review of Relevant Health Outcomes

Introduction: Physical training can improve several health variables in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A growing body of studies also finds a positive influence of dietary supplement (DS) intake. The aim of this review is to shed light on the possible effects of training interventions combined with DS intake in T2DM patients. Methods: A systematic search was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in the PubMed and BISp Surf databases. Inclusion criteria were defined using the Patient-Intervention-Comparison-Outcome (PICO) scheme. The Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used for quality assessment and risk of bias analysis. Results: Ten controlled interventional studies with a total number of 643 subjects met the inclusion criteria. These studies investigated the effects of (a) vitamin D (VD), (b) VD + whey protein, (c) polyphenol containing antioxidant capsules, (d) creatine, (e) L-arginine, (f) leucine-rich amino acids, and (g) broccoli sprouts powder. Eight studies investigated effects on one or more of the following health outcomes: body mass index, fat mass, insulin resistance, glycemic control, lipid profile, oxidative stress/antioxidative capacity and/or inflammatory markers/molecules. Five of the studies show clear superior effects of physical training combined with DS intake (supplements a, b, c, e) on some of these variables compared with training only. However, one study indicates that VD intake might attenuate the training effects on triglyceride levels. Another study found that training + VD + whey protein intake increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in T2DM patients. The effects of training combined with DS intake on renal function (supplement d) or incretin metabolism (supplement a) were investigated in two further studies. These studies do not show any additional effects of DS intake. The quality of the majority of the studies was high. Conclusion: DS intake can potentially increase the benefits of physical training for specific health outcomes in T2DM patients. However, negative effects can also be observed. Possible cellular and molecular mechanisms behind potential synergistic or divergent effects of exercise training and DS use in T2DM should be explored in detail in future studies for the development of safe recommendations