Endometriosis

Women with endometriosis faced higher odds of anxiety, depression and eating disorders, which researchers said are likely driven by genetic and phenotypic ...

“These phenotypic associations were in line with the genetic correlation of endometriosis with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders,” they wrote. “Our genetic and phenotypic analyses included a wide range of covariates to account for the possible effects of variables ... This could lead to better prevention and treatment strategies,” they said. They used multiple regression models that accounted for different sets of covariates to assess differences in sociodemographic characteristics and endometriosis symptoms. Koller, Polimanti and colleagues also conducted a genome-wide analysis of pleiotropic associations. Biobank genotypic and phenotypic information with genome-wide association statistics from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology consortium (five countries), the FinnGen study (Finland), the Million Veteran Program (United States) and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (11 countries). The researchers conducted a one-sample Mendelian randomization to investigate causal associations. “Accordingly, our findings highlight that pleiotropy likely contributes to the adverse mental health outcomes observed in women affected by endometriosis independently of known risk factors and possible confounders.” In what is, to their knowledge, the first large-scale study to offer phenotypic and genetic evidence of processes involved in endometriosis’ psychiatric comorbidities, Koller, Polimanti and colleagues concluded that their findings “highlight that endometriosis is associated with women’s mental health through pleiotropic mechanisms.” Although chronic pain surely plays an important role underlying these associations, it is not the sole factor,” the researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open. Koller, Polimanti and colleagues conducted the study, which included 202,276 unrelated female participants, from Sept. This could include