Abstract

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorder that develops during childhood and spans into adulthood. ADHD’s aetiology is complex, and evidence about its cause and risk factors is limited. We leveraged genetic data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and performed latent causal variable analyses using a hypothesis-free approach to infer causal associations between 1387 complex traits and ADHD. We identified 37 inferred potential causal associations with ADHD risk. Our results reveal that genetic variants associated with iron deficiency anemia (ICD10), obesity, type 2 diabetes, synovitis and tenosynovitis (ICD10), polyarthritis (ICD10), neck or shoulder pain, and substance use in adults display partial genetic causality on ADHD risk in children. Genetic variants associated with ADHD have a partial genetic causality increasing the risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and carpal tunnel syndrome. Protective factors for ADHD risk included genetic variants associated with the likelihood of participating in socially supportive and interactive activities. Our results show that genetic liability to multiple complex traits influences a higher risk for ADHD, highlighting the potential role of cardiometabolic phenotypes and physical pain in ADHD’s aetiology. These findings have the potential to inform future clinical studies and development of interventions.

Details

Title
Large-scale genetic investigation reveals genetic liability to multiple complex traits influencing a higher risk of ADHD
Author
García-Marín, Luis M 1 ; Campos, Adrián I 1 ; Cuéllar-Partida Gabriel 2 ; Medland, Sarah E 3 ; Kollins, Scott H 4 ; Rentería, Miguel E 1 

 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, Brisbane, Australia (GRID:grid.1049.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2294 1395); The University of Queensland, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Brisbane, Australia (GRID:grid.1003.2) (ISNI:0000 0000 9320 7537) 
 The University of Queensland, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Woolloongabba, Australia (GRID:grid.1003.2) (ISNI:0000 0000 9320 7537); 23andMe, Inc, Sunnyvale, USA (GRID:grid.420283.f) (ISNI:0000 0004 0626 0858) 
 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Department of Genetics and Computational Biology, Brisbane, Australia (GRID:grid.1049.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2294 1395) 
 Duke University, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Durham, USA (GRID:grid.26009.3d) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7961); Holmusk Technologies, Inc., New York, USA (GRID:grid.26009.3d) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2599272453
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.