Biomedical subjects

Julia M Sealock

Publications and source records attributed to Julia M Sealock.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Genomic meta-analyses of binge-eating behavior and anorexia nervosa yield insights into the unique and shared biology of eating disorder phenotypes.

Eating disorders-including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder-are clinically distinct but exhibit symptom overlap and diagnostic crossover. Genomic analyses have mostly examined AN. Here we conducted a genomic meta-analysis of case-control studies of binge-eating behavior (BE; 39,279 cases, 1,227,436 controls), alongside analyses of AN (24,223 cases, 1,243,971 controls) and its subtypes (all European ancestries). We identified six BE-associated loci, including loci associated with a higher body mass index and impulse-control behaviors. AN genome-wide association studies yielded eight loci, validating six loci. Subsequent polygenic risk score analysis demonstrated an association with AN in two East Asian ancestry studies. BE and AN exhibited similar positive genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders but opposing genetic correlations with anthropometric traits. Most of the genetic signal in BE and AN was not shared with body mass index. We have extended eating disorder genomics beyond AN; future work will incorporate multiple diagnoses and global ancestries.

Behavioural genetics↗

PubMed2025

Genome-wide association studies of binge eating behaviour and anorexia nervosa yield insights into the unique and shared biology of eating disorder phenotypes.

Eating disorders -including anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder-are clinically distinct but exhibit symptom overlap and diagnostic crossover. Genomic analyses have mostly examined AN. We conducted the first genomic meta-analysis of binge eating behaviour (BE; 39,279 cases, 1,227,436 controls), alongside new analyses of AN (24,223 cases, 1,243,971 controls) and its subtypes (all European ancestries). We identified six loci associated with BE, including loci associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and impulse-control behaviours. AN GWAS yielded eight loci, validating six loci. Subsequent polygenic risk score analysis demonstrated an association with AN in two East Asian ancestry cohorts. BE and AN exhibited similar positive genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, but opposing genetic correlations with anthropometric traits. Most of the genetic signal in BE and AN was not shared with BMI. We have extended eating disorder genomics beyond AN; future work will incorporate multiple diagnoses and global ancestries.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2018

Sex-specific genetic predictors of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42) and tau have been evaluated as endophenotypes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) genetic studies. Although there are sex differences in AD risk, sex differences have not been evaluated in genetic studies of AD endophenotypes. We performed sex-stratified and sex interaction genetic analyses of CSF biomarkers to identify sex-specific associations. Data came from a previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of CSF Aβ42 and tau (1527 males, 1509 females). We evaluated sex interactions at previous loci, performed sex-stratified GWAS to identify sex-specific associations, and evaluated sex interactions at sex-specific GWAS loci. We then evaluated sex-specific associations between prefrontal cortex (PFC) gene expression at relevant loci and autopsy measures of plaques and tangles using data from the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project. In Aβ42, we observed sex interactions at one previous and one novel locus: rs316341 within SERPINB1 (p = 0.04) and rs13115400 near LINC00290 (p = 0.002). These loci showed stronger associations among females (β = - 0.03, p = 4.25 × 10-8; β = 0.03, p = 3.97 × 10-8) than males (β = - 0.02, p = 0.009; β = 0.01, p = 0.20). Higher levels of expression of SERPINB1, SERPINB6, and SERPINB9 in PFC was associated with higher levels of amyloidosis among females (corrected p values < 0.02) but not males (p > 0.38). In total tau, we observed a sex interaction at a previous locus, rs1393060 proximal to GMNC (p = 0.004), driven by a stronger association among females (β = 0.05, p = 4.57 × 10-10) compared to males (β = 0.02, p = 0.03). There was also a sex-specific association between rs1393060 and tangle density at autopsy (pfemale = 0.047; pmale = 0.96), and higher levels of expression of two genes within this locus were associated with lower tangle density among females (OSTN p = 0.006; CLDN16 p = 0.002) but not males (p ≥ 0.32). Results suggest a female-specific role for SERPINB1 in amyloidosis and for OSTN and CLDN16 in tau pathology. Sex-specific genetic analyses may improve understanding of AD's genetic architecture.

Aged, 80 and over↗