Genetic Variants Tied to Sex Differences in Psychiatric Disorders

The largest study of its kind identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms with disparate effects on men’s and women’s susceptibility to conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Written byAmanda Heidt

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GWAS, psychotic disorder, mood disorder, Q&A, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, sex differences

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Just as recent research has shown that the sex of cells used in cellular models can bias studies of neurological disease, new research is showing that men and women also have genetic differences that are linked to their likelihood of developing certain psychotic and mood disorders.

The study, published March 22 in Biological Psychiatry, is the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date—including contributions from more than 100 researchers—to look at the underlying genetic differences between the sexes for insight into why bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression affect men and women differently and at different rates.

The GWAS identified almost a dozen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that differed between men and women diagnosed with one of the three disorders. In some instances, a SNP was only linked to disease in one sex, while in other cases the same SNP decreased the likelihood of developing a disorder ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
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Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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