Neurobiology of Stress (Nov 2021)

From genetics to systems biology of stress-related mental disorders

  • Shareefa Dalvie,
  • Chris Chatzinakos,
  • Obada Al Zoubi,
  • Foivos Georgiadis,
  • Lee Lancashire,
  • Nikolaos P. Daskalakis

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15
p. 100393

Abstract

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Many individuals will be exposed to some form of traumatic stress in their lifetime which, in turn, increases the likelihood of developing stress-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders (ANX). The development of these disorders is also influenced by genetics and have heritability estimates ranging between ∼30 and 70%. In this review, we provide an overview of the findings of genome-wide association studies for PTSD, depression and ANX, and we observe a clear genetic overlap between these three diagnostic categories. We go on to highlight the results from transcriptomic and epigenomic studies, and, given the multifactorial nature of stress-related disorders, we provide an overview of the gene-environment studies that have been conducted to date. Finally, we discuss systems biology approaches that are now seeing wider utility in determining a more holistic view of these complex disorders.

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