Schizophrenia polygenic risk score influence on white matter microstructure.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Genetics

Background:

• Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are highly heritable and share symptoms.
• Polygenic risk scores (PRS) offer insights into the genetic architecture of these disorders.
• White matter microstructure is known to be impaired in SZ and BD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a schizophrenia polygenic risk score (SZ PRS) on white matter microstructure.
• To understand the genetic pathways contributing to brain phenotypes in SZ, BD, and their relatives.
• To investigate the relationship between SZ PRS and white matter integrity in a mixed-risk cohort.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a cohort of 141 participants, including patients with SZ, BD, relatives, and healthy volunteers.
• Assessed white matter integrity using fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) metrics.
• Correlated the schizophrenia polygenic risk score (SZ PRS) with FA and MD values.

Main Results:

• No significant correlation was observed between the SZ PRS and fractional anisotropy (FA).
• No significant correlation was found between the SZ PRS and mean diffusivity (MD).
• The SZ PRS did not significantly predict white matter integrity in the studied cohort.

Conclusions:

• The current schizophrenia polygenic risk score does not appear to be a strong predictor of white matter microstructure integrity.
• It remains uncertain whether white matter alterations in SZ and BD are primarily driven by the genetic risk profile captured by this SZ PRS.
• Further research is needed to elucidate the genetic underpinnings of white matter changes in psychotic disorders.