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Biomedical subjects

Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas

Publications and source records attributed to Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

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

Identification of novel type 1 and type 2 diabetes genes by co-localization of human islet eQTL and GWAS variants with colocRedRibbon.

Over 1,000 genetic variants have been associated with diabetes by genome-wide association studies (GWASs), but for most, their functional impact is unknown; only 7% alter gene expression in pancreatic islets in expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies. To fill this gap, we developed a co-localization pipeline, colocRedRibbon, that prefilters eQTLs by the direction of effect on gene expression and shortlists overlapping eQTL and GWAS variants prior to co-localization. Applying colocRedRibbon to recent diabetes and glycemic trait GWASs, we identified 292 co-localizing gene regions, including 24 co-localizations for type 1 diabetes and 268 for type 2 diabetes and glycemic traits, representing a 4-fold increase. A low-frequency type 2 diabetes protective variant increases islet MYO5C expression, and a type 1 diabetes protective variant increases FUT2 expression. These novel co-localizations advance the understanding of diabetes genetics and its impact on human islet biology. colocRedRibbon has broad applicability to co-localize GWASs and various QTLs.

Humans

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