By Michelle Jaffee
In the largest-ever study into the genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder, researchers have identified multiple DNA variants that could help predict who is at greater risk of developing the psychiatric disorder — and guide better ways to treat it.
While previous studies have shown that OCD can run in families, this is the first time researchers have made substantial progress in identifying genetic-risk loci, the specific locations on a chromosome where DNA variants are associated with higher susceptibility of a specific disease or trait. Thirty independent loci were found, with 25 genes in those loci likely contributing to OCD risk.
Co-led by MBI researcher Carol Mathews, M.D., chair of the UF College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, the study by over 200 investigators across the world is the culmination of more than 20 years of sample collection.
That collection is now the largest-ever genome-wide association study of OCD, with 53,660 OCD cases and over 2 million controls. Findings were reported May 13 in the journal Nature Genetics.
“When we started early in my career, we were looking for genes that cause OCD. We thought back then that it would be one or two,” said Mathews, director of UF’s Center for OCD, Anxiety & Related Disorders and one of six senior authors who supervised the research. “Over time, we’ve come to realize that OCD is not a disease of a single gene or specific brain region, but rather it’s a disease of circuits and hundreds of genes, which together contribute to the development of the disorder.”