Genetic Associations of Anhedonia: Insights into Overlap of Mental and Somatic Disorders

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia is characterized by a reduced ability to anticipate, experience, and/or learn about pleasure. This phenomenon has a transdiagnostic nature and is one of the key symptoms of mood disorders, schizophrenia, addictions, and somatic conditions. AIM: To evaluate the genetic architecture of anhedonia and its overlap with other mental disorders and somatic conditions. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study of anhedonia on a sample of 4,520 individuals from a Russian non-clinical population. Using the available summary statistics, we calculated polygenic risk scores (PRS) to investigate the genetic relationship between anhedonia and other psychiatric or somatic phenotypes. RESULTS: No variants with a genome-wide significant association were identified. PRS for major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia were significantly associated with anhedonia. Conversely, no significant associations were found between PRS for anxiety and anhedonia, which aligns well with existing clinical evidence. None of the PRS for somatic phenotypes attained a significance level after correction for multiple comparisons. A nominal significance for the anhedonia association was determined for omega-3 fatty acids, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and Crohn’s disease. CONCLUSION: Anhedonia has a complex polygenic architecture, and its presence in somatic diseases or normal conditions may be due to a genetic predisposition to mood disorders or schizophrenia.

Keywords

• anhedonia
• depression
• bipolar disorder
• schizophrenia
• polygenic risk scores