TY - JOUR
T1 - Hair Cortisol in Twins
T2 - Heritability and Genetic Overlap with Psychological Variables and Stress-System Genes
AU - Et al.
AU - Rietschel, Liz
AU - Streit, Fabian
AU - Zhu, Gu
AU - McAloney, Kerrie
AU - Frank, Josef
AU - Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste
AU - Witt, Stephanie H.
AU - Binz, Tina M.
AU - Bolton, Jennifer L.
AU - Hayward, Caroline
AU - Direk, Nese
AU - Anderson, Anna
AU - Huffman, Jennifer
AU - Wilson, James F.
AU - Campbell, Harry
AU - Rudan, Igor
AU - Wright, Alan
AU - Hastie, Nicholas
AU - Wild, Sarah H.
AU - Velders, Fleur P.
AU - Hofman, Albert
AU - Uitterlinden, Andre G.
AU - Lahti, Jari
AU - Räikkönen, Katri
AU - Kajantie, Eero
AU - Widen, Elisabeth
AU - Palotie, Aarno
AU - Eriksson, Johan G.
AU - Kaakinen, Marika
AU - Järvelin, Marjo Riitta
AU - Timpson, Nicholas J.
AU - Davey Smith, George
AU - Ring, Susan M.
AU - Evans, David M.
AU - St Pourcain, Beate
AU - Tanaka, Toshiko
AU - Milaneschi, Yuri
AU - Bandinelli, Stefania
AU - Ferrucci, Luigi
AU - Van Der Harst, Pim
AU - Rosmalen, Judith Gm
AU - Bakker, Stephen Jl
AU - Verweij, Niek
AU - Dullaart, Robin Pf
AU - Mahajan, Anubha
AU - Lindgren, Cecilia M.
AU - Morris, Andrew
AU - Lind, Lars
AU - Ingelsson, Erik
AU - Sigurdsson, Engilbert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is a promising measure of long-Term hypothalamus-pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Previous research has suggested an association between HCC and psychological variables, and initial studies of inter-individual variance in HCC have implicated genetic factors. However, whether HCC and psychological variables share genetic risk factors remains unclear. The aims of the present twin study were to: (i) assess the heritability of HCC; (ii) estimate the phenotypic and genetic correlation between HPA axis activity and the psychological variables perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism; using formal genetic twin models and molecular genetic methods, i.e. polygenic risk scores (PRS). HCC was measured in 671 adolescents and young adults. These included 115 monozygotic and 183 dizygotic twin-pairs. For 432 subjects PRS scores for plasma cortisol, major depression, and neuroticism were calculated using data from large genome wide association studies. The twin model revealed a heritability for HCC of 72%. No significant phenotypic or genetic correlation was found between HCC and the three psychological variables of interest. PRS did not explain variance in HCC. The present data suggest that HCC is highly heritable. However, the data do not support a strong biological link between HCC and any of the investigated psychological variables.
AB - Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is a promising measure of long-Term hypothalamus-pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Previous research has suggested an association between HCC and psychological variables, and initial studies of inter-individual variance in HCC have implicated genetic factors. However, whether HCC and psychological variables share genetic risk factors remains unclear. The aims of the present twin study were to: (i) assess the heritability of HCC; (ii) estimate the phenotypic and genetic correlation between HPA axis activity and the psychological variables perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism; using formal genetic twin models and molecular genetic methods, i.e. polygenic risk scores (PRS). HCC was measured in 671 adolescents and young adults. These included 115 monozygotic and 183 dizygotic twin-pairs. For 432 subjects PRS scores for plasma cortisol, major depression, and neuroticism were calculated using data from large genome wide association studies. The twin model revealed a heritability for HCC of 72%. No significant phenotypic or genetic correlation was found between HCC and the three psychological variables of interest. PRS did not explain variance in HCC. The present data suggest that HCC is highly heritable. However, the data do not support a strong biological link between HCC and any of the investigated psychological variables.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85033567547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-017-11852-3
DO - 10.1038/s41598-017-11852-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 29127340
AN - SCOPUS:85033567547
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 7
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 15351
ER -