Dataset Information

Gene functional networks and autism spectrum characteristics in young people with intellectual disability: a dimensional phenotyping study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The relationships between specific genetic aetiology and phenotype in neurodevelopmental disorders are complex and hotly contested. Genes associated with intellectual disability (ID) can be grouped into networks according to gene function. This study explored whether individuals with ID show differences in autism spectrum characteristics (ASC), depending on the functional network membership of their rare, pathogenic de novo genetic variants.

Methods

Children and young people with ID of known genetic origin were allocated to two broad functional network groups: synaptic physiology (n?=?29) or chromatin regulation (n?=?23). We applied principle components analysis to the Social Responsiveness Scale to map the structure of ASC in this population and identified three components-Inflexibility, Social Understanding and Social Motivation. We then used Akaike information criterion to test the best fitting models for predicting ASC components, including demographic factors (age, gender), non-ASC behavioural factors (global adaptive function, anxiety, hyperactivity, inattention), and gene functional networks.

Results

We found that, when other factors are accounted for, the chromatin regulation group showed higher levels of Inflexibility. We also observed contrasting predictors of ASC within each network group. Within the chromatin regulation group, Social Understanding was associated with inattention, and Social Motivation was predicted by hyperactivity. Within the synaptic group, Social Understanding was associated with hyperactivity, and Social Motivation was linked to anxiety.

Limitations

Functional network definitions were manually curated based on multiple sources of evidence, but a data-driven approach to classification may be more robust. Sample sizes for rare genetic diagnoses remain small, mitigated by our network-based approach to group comparisons. This is a cross-sectional study across a wide age range, and longitudinal data within focused age groups will be informative of developmental trajectories across network groups.

Conclusion

We report that gene functional networks can predict Inflexibility, but not other ASC dimensions. Contrasting behavioural associations within each group suggest network-specific developmental pathways from genomic variation to autism. Simple classification of neurodevelopmental disorder genes as high risk or low risk for autism is unlikely to be valid or useful.

SUBMITTER: Brkic D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7731560 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Gene functional networks and autism spectrum characteristics in young people with intellectual disability: a dimensional phenotyping study.

Brkić Diandra D Ng-Cordell Elise E O'Brien Sinéad S Scerif Gaia G Astle Duncan D Baker Kate K

Molecular autism 20201211 1

<h4>Background</h4>The relationships between specific genetic aetiology and phenotype in neurodevelopmental disorders are complex and hotly contested. Genes associated with intellectual disability (ID) can be grouped into networks according to gene function. This study explored whether individuals with ID show differences in autism spectrum characteristics (ASC), depending on the functional network membership of their rare, pathogenic de novo genetic variants.<h4>Methods</h4>Children and young p ...[more]

PMID: 33308299

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Project description:ImportanceDepression is a frequently occurring mental disorder and may be common in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but there is a lack of longitudinal population-based studies examining this association. Whether any increased risk of depression in ASD has a shared familial basis and whether it differs by co-occurring intellectual disability is not well known.ObjectivesTo examine whether individuals with ASD are more likely to be diagnosed as having depression in adulthood than the general population and their nonautistic siblings and to investigate whether these risks differ by the presence or absence of intellectual disability.Design, setting, and participantsPopulation-based cohort study with a nested sibling comparison. The Stockholm Youth Cohort is a total population record linkage study that includes all children and young people (age range, 0-17 years) who were ever resident in Stockholm County, Sweden, between January 2001 and December 2011 (n?=?735?096). Data analysis was conducted between January 5 and November 30, 2017, in Stockholm County, Sweden.Main outcomes and measuresClinical diagnosis of depressive disorders was identified using the Stockholm County Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Register and the Swedish National Patient Register.ResultsParticipants were 223?842 individuals followed up to age 27 years by 2011, of whom 4073 had diagnosed ASD (mean [SD] age, 21.5 [2.7] years; 65.9% male; 2927 without intellectual disability and 1146 with intellectual disability) and 219?769 had no ASD (mean [SD] age, 22.1 [2.8] years; 50.9% male). By age 27 years, 19.8% (n?=?808) of individuals diagnosed having ASD had a diagnosis of depression compared with 6.0% (n?=?13?114) of the general population (adjusted relative risk [RR], 3.64; 95% CI, 3.41-3.88). The risk of a depression diagnosis was higher in ASD without intellectual disability (adjusted RR, 4.28; 95% CI, 4.00-4.58) than in ASD with intellectual disability (adjusted RR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.51-2.17). Nonautistic full-siblings (adjusted RR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.23-1.53) and half-siblings (adjusted RR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.23-1.64) of individuals with ASD also had a higher risk of depression than the general population. Compared with their nonautistic full-siblings, individuals with ASD had more than a 2-fold risk of a depression diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.91-3.27) in young adulthood.Conclusions and relevanceAccording to this study's results, ASD, particularly ASD without intellectual disability, is associated with depression by young adulthood compared with the general population. It appears that this association is unlikely to be explained by shared familial liability. Future research to identify modifiable pathways between ASD and depression may assist in the development of preventive interventions.

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Dataset Information

Gene functional networks and autism spectrum characteristics in young people with intellectual disability: a dimensional phenotyping study.

Background

Methods

Results

Limitations

Conclusion

Publications

Gene functional networks and autism spectrum characteristics in young people with intellectual disability: a dimensional phenotyping study.

Similar Datasets

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