The following is a summary of “Associations of schizophrenia with arrhythmic disorders and electrocardiogram traits: genetic exploration of population samples,” published in the November 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Treur et al.
Sudden cardiac death significantly reduces life expectancy in schizophrenia, with arrhythmic disorders potentially playing a key role, though the exact relationship remains unclear.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the shared genetic liability between schizophrenia and arrhythmic disorders, including electrocardiogram (ECG) traits.
They leveraged summary-level data from large-scale genome-wide association studies of schizophrenia (53,386 cases, 77,258 controls), arrhythmic disorders (atrial fibrillation: 55,114 cases, 482,295 controls; Brugada syndrome: 2,820 cases, 10,001 controls), and ECG traits (heart rate, PR interval, QT interval, JT interval, and QRS duration: n = 46,952–293,051 participants). They assessed shared genetic liability through global and local genetic correlations and functional annotation while exploring bidirectional causal relationships using Mendelian randomization.
The results showed no global genetic correlation, except between schizophrenia and Brugada syndrome (rg = 0.14, P = 4.0E−04). Strong positive and negative local correlations were found between schizophrenia and cardiac traits, with immune and viral response genes overrepresented in key regions. Mendelian randomization indicated that schizophrenia liability increases Brugada syndrome risk (beta = 0.14, CIs = 0.03–0.25, P = 0.009) and heart rate during activity (beta = 0.25, CIs = 0.05–0.45, P = 0.015).
They found that specific genomic regions and biological pathways are shared between schizophrenia and arrhythmia, suggesting that schizophrenia liability may increase Brugada syndrome risk, highlighting the need for enhanced cardiac monitoring in affected individuals.
