for the 23andMe Research Team, China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group, and Major Depressive Disorder Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium IMPORTANCE Most previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of depression have used data from individuals of European descent. This limits the understanding of the underlying biology of depression and raises questions about the transferability of findings between populations. OBJECTIVE To investigate the genetics of depression among individuals of East Asian and European descent living in different geographic locations, and with different outcome definitions for depression.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Genome-wide association analyses followed by meta-analysis, which included data from 9 cohort and case-control data sets comprising individuals with depression and control individuals of East Asian descent. This study was conducted between January 2019 and May 2021.EXPOSURES Associations of genetic variants with depression risk were assessed using generalized linear mixed models and logistic regression. The results were combined across studies using fixed-effects meta-analyses. These were subsequently also meta-analyzed with the largest published GWAS for depression among individuals of European descent. Additional meta-analyses were carried out separately by outcome definition (clinical depression vs symptom-based depression) and region (East Asian countries vs Western countries) for East Asian ancestry cohorts. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Depression status was defined based on health records and self-report questionnaires.RESULTS There were a total of 194 548 study participants (approximate mean age, 51.3 years; 62.8% women). Participants included 15 771 individuals with depression and 178 777 control individuals of East Asian descent. Five novel associations were identified, including 1 in the meta-analysis for broad depression among those of East Asian descent: rs4656484 (β = −0.018, SE = 0.003, P = 4.43x10 −8 ) at 1q24.1. Another locus at 7p21.2 was associated in a meta-analysis restricted to geographically East Asian studies (β = 0.028, SE = 0.005, P = 6.48x10 −9 for rs10240457). The lead variants of these 2 novel loci were not associated with depression risk in European ancestry cohorts (β = −0.003, SE = 0.005, P = .53 for rs4656484 and β = −0.005, SE = 0.004, P = .28 for rs10240457). Only 11% of depression loci previously identified in individuals of European descent reached nominal significance levels in the individuals of East Asian descent. The transancestry genetic correlation between cohorts of East Asian and European descent for clinical depression was r = 0.413 (SE = 0.159). Clinical depression risk was negatively genetically correlated with body mass index in individuals of East Asian descent (r = −0.212, SE = 0.084), contrary to findings for individuals of European descent. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThese results support caution against generalizing findings about depression risk factors across populations and highlight the need to incre...

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with strong genetic components. Several recent genome-wide association (GWA) studies in Caucasian samples have reported a number of gene regions and loci correlated with the risk of ASD—albeit with very little consensus across studies.MethodsA two-stage GWA study was employed to identify common genetic variants for ASD in the Taiwanese Han population. The discovery stage included 315 patients with ASD and 1,115 healthy controls, using the Affymetrix SNP array 6.0 platform for genotyping. Several gene regions were then selected for fine-mapping and top markers were examined in extended samples. Single marker, haplotype, gene-based, and pathway analyses were conducted for associations.ResultsSeven SNPs had p-values ranging from 3.4~9.9*10−6, but none reached the genome-wide significant level. Five of them were mapped to three known genes (OR2M4, STYK1, and MNT) with significant empirical gene-based p-values in OR2M4 (p = 3.4*10−5) and MNT (p = 0.0008). Results of the fine-mapping study showed single-marker associations in the GLIS1 (rs12082358 and rs12080993) and NAALADL2 (rs3914502 and rs2222447) genes, and gene-based associations for the OR2M3-OR2T5 (olfactory receptor genes, p = 0.02), and GLIPR1/KRR1 gene regions (p = 0.015). Pathway analyses revealed important pathways for ASD, such as olfactory and G protein–coupled receptors signaling pathways.ConclusionsWe reported Taiwanese Han specific susceptibility genes and variants for ASD. However, further replication in other Asian populations is warranted to validate our findings. Investigation in the biological functions of our reported genetic variants might also allow for better understanding on the underlying pathogenesis of autism.

Risk profiles of personality traits for suicidality among mood disorder patients and community controls Objective: To examine the associations between personality traits and suicidal ideation (SI) and attempt (SA) in mood disorder patients and community controls. Method: We recruited 365 bipolar, 296 major depressive disorder patients, and 315 community controls to assess their lifetime suicidality. Participants filled out self-reported personality questionnaires to collect data of personality traits, including novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), extraversion (E), and neuroticism (N). We used logistic regression models adjusted for diagnoses to analyze combinational effects of personality traits on the risk of suicide. Additionally, radar charts display personality profiles for suicidal behaviours by groups. Results: All personality traits were associated with the risk of suicidality with various effect size, except for E that showed protective effect. High N or HA had prominent and independent risk effects on SI and SA. Combinations of high N and low E, or high HA and NS were the risk personality profiles for suicidality. Higher N scores further distinguished SA from SI in mood disorder patients. Conclusion: Introvert personality traits showed independent risk effects on suicidality regardless of diagnosis status. Among high-risk individuals with suicidal thoughts, higher neuroticism tendency is further associated with increased risk of suicide attempt. Significant outcomes• Higher scores of neuroticism or harm avoidance were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation and attempt, and the effect of personality traits was independent of mood disorder diagnosis.• 'High neuroticism low extraversion' or 'high novelty seeking high harm avoidance' was the risk personality profiles for suicidal behaviours.• Higher neuroticism score further distinguishes attempters from ideators among mood disorder patients. Limitations• The sample size in our study was only moderate. It is underpowered to do stratified analysis, such as identifying gender-specific effects.• Personality traits were measured after diagnosis of mood disorders. The stability of personality traits cannot be evaluated. 30

doi: medRxiv preprint NOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.

Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide and non-fatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both are known to have a substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium and conditioned the results on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics, to investigate their shared and divergent genetic architectures. Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, which remained associated after conditioning and has previously been implicated in risk-taking, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, lower socioeconomic status, pain, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, risk-taking, sleep disturbances, and poorer overall general health. After conditioning, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with non-psychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest the existence of a shared genetic etiology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.