Genetic Clues to OCD Uncovered in New Research
A new study published โฃin the Journal of the โคAmerican Academy of child &โ Adolescent โฃPsychiatry has identified a significant โฃlink between โrare genetic variations and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), especially inโข children and adolescents. The research, a โcollaborative effort involving Brazilianโ and American scientists, suggests these genetic โdifferences aren’tโ random, but likely contribute to the โdevelopment of โฃthe disorder.
The study focused on copy number variations (CNVs) โ- deletions or duplications of โDNA segments – โขandโข found that 75% of thoseโ identified in OCD patients were considered โpotentially harmful. in contrast, โขno โsuch potentially harmful CNVs were found in a control group โฃof healthy individuals.
“Research represents โฃan significant advance in understanding theโ geneticโ roots of OCD, even though it should โbe โฃseenโ as part of a larger puzzle,” explains dr.โ Thomas Fernandez, a โchildren’s psychiatrist at yale School ofโ Medicine andโค the article’s corresponding author, in aโข statementโฃ to the Agency FAPESP. “Itโฃ is โคindeed โคbasic science,โ which can yield fruits,โ offering an critically important basis โfor future research that mayโฃ eventually โlead to better treatments. It is a significantโ step in aโฃ long journey to โขtheโ full understanding of this complex disorder.”
The โฃresearchโ builds upon a long-term partnership spearheaded by Dr. Euripedes Constantino Miguel Filho, a psychiatrist and professor โขat the USP School of Medicine. In 2008, Dr. Miguel Filho andโฃ colleagues established the Brazilian Consortium of Research ofโฃ the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (CTOC), collecting clinical data from individuals โคwith OCD across seven โขBrazilian centers.
Thisโค data wasโ later bolstered byโค the creation of the โobsessive-Compulsive spectrum โขdisorder โgenetic working group (Brazil Genetic/Phenotype OCD Working Group – โGTTOC) in 2023,a collaboration of ten Brazilian centers comprised of psychiatrists,psychologists,nurses,and biologists. GTTOC not only continues to gather clinical dataโค and biological samples from seven โstates,but also collaborates with two international projects.
To broaden the โฃscope of the research and โaddress the stigma โsurrounding mental health, GTTOCโข hasโฃ also launched an Instagram โฃchannel, @somosgentoc,โ toโ disseminate accessible scientific dataโฃ and increase sample diversity.โค Thisโ outreach aims to reach โคpopulations with limited access to specialized โขcare, โขparticularly those in remote regions of Brazil. Currently, the group’s sample โincludesโข nearly 300 families affected by OCD, alongside 1,200 โindividuals with the disorder.
The study’s findings and CNV detections are now publicly available toโข facilitate further integrated analyses by other research groups.
The full article, Characterizing rare DNA โขcopy-number variants in pediatric obsessive-compulsive โdisorder, can be found at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890856725001601.