Impact of Polygenic Interactions With Anticholinergic Burden on Cognition and Brain Structure in Psychosis Spectrum Disorders.

Abstract

The authors sought to determine whether genetic predispositions to cognitive ability or psychiatric conditions interact with anticholinergic burden (AChB) to impact cognition and brain structure in individuals with psychotic disorders. Participants with psychosis spectrum disorders (N=1,704) from the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network for Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) consortium, 18-65 years of age and representing diverse ancestries, underwent cognitive assessments, structural neuroimaging, genotyping, and a comprehensive medication review. The primary cognitive outcome was the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) composite score, and the primary brain structural phenotype was total gray matter volume. AChB scores for scheduled medications were quantified using the CRIDECO Anticholinergic Load Scale. Polygenic scores (PGSs) for cognition, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression were constructed, and a composite psychiatric PGS was subsequently generated. Linear regression models were used to examine AChB-PGS interactions and their associations with cognitive and brain structure outcomes, adjusting for clinical covariates and multiple testing with false discovery rate. Hypothesis-driven moderated mediation models were used to explore potential association pathways. Higher AChB was significantly associated with lower BACS performance and reduced gray matter volume. Individuals with higher cognitive PGS values exhibited greater adverse effects of AChB on BACS, while those with lower composite psychiatric PGS values showed more pronounced gray matter volume reductions from AChB. AChB associations with cognitive impairment were partially mediated by reduced gray matter volume and were moderated by composite psychiatric PGS. Anticholinergic-polygenic interactions significantly impact cognition and brain structure in individuals with psychotic disorders, highlighting a novel gene-by-environment interaction that advances our mechanistic understanding of cognitive impairments in this population.