GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, genetic overlap with psychiatric traits, and a causal influence of schizophrenia. (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pasman, Joëlle; Verweij, Karin; Gerring, Zachary; Stringer, Sven; Sanchez-Roige, Sandra; Treur, Jorien; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Nivard, Michel; Baselmans, Bart; Ong, Jue-Sheng; Ip, Hill; Zee, Matthijs; Bartels, Meike; Day, Felix; Fontanillas, Pierre; Elson, Sarah; Wit, Harriet; Davis, Lea; MacKillop, James; Derringer, Jaime; Branje, Susan; Hartman, Catharina; Heath, Andrew; Lier, Pol; Madden, Pamela; Mägi, Reedik; Meeus, Wim; Montgomery, Grant; Oldehinkel, A.; Pausova, Zdenka; Ramos-Quiroga, Josep; Paus, Tomas; Ribases, Marta; Kaprio, Jaakko; Boks, Marco; Bell, Jordana; Spector, Tim; Gelernter, Joel; Boomsma, Dorret; Martin, Nicholas; MacGregor, Stuart; Perry, John; Palmer, Abraham; Posthuma, Danielle; Munafò, Marcus; Gillespie, Nathan; Derks, Eske; Vink, Jacqueline;
• Is Part Of: Nature neuroscience. Volume 21:Number 9(2018)
• Page Start: 1161
• Page End: 1170
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: Neurosciences -- Periodicals; 573.8
• DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0206-1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1097-6256

Abstract

Abstract Cannabis use is a heritable trait that has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes. In the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) for lifetime cannabis use to date (N = 184, 765), we identified eight genome-wide significant independent single nucleotide polymorphisms in six regions. All measured genetic variants combined explained 11% of the variance. Gene-based tests revealed 35 significant genes in 16 regions, and S-PrediXcan analyses showed that 21 genes had different expression levels for cannabis users versus nonusers. The strongest finding across the different analyses was CADM2, which has been associated with substance use and risk-taking. Significant genetic correlations were found with 14 of 25 tested substance use and mental health–related traits, including smoking, alcohol use, schizophrenia and risk-taking. Mendelian randomization analysis showed evidence for a causal positive influence of schizophrenia risk on cannabis use. Overall, our study provides new insights into the etiology of cannabis use and its relation with mental health. A GWAS of lifetime cannabis use reveals new risk loci, shows that cannabis use has genetic overlap with smoking and alcohol use, and indicates that the likelihood of initiating cannabis use is causally influenced by schizophrenia.