Variations in circadian genes and individual nocturnal symptoms of insomnia. The HUNT study |
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| Authors: | Daniela Bragantini Børge Sivertsen Philip Gehrman Stian Lydersen Ismail Cüneyt Güzey |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Research and Development (AFFU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway;2. Department of Mental health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway;3. Division of Mental Health Care, St. Olav’s University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway;4. Department of Mental health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway;5. Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Bergen, Norway;6. Department of Research and Innovation, Helse-Fonna HF Haugesund Hospital, Haugesund, Norway;7. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;8. Department of Mental Health, Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway |
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| Abstract: | Insomnia is a condition characterized by three nocturnal symptoms: problems with sleep onset or maintenance and early morning awakenings (terminal insomnia). Affected individuals may present one or more of these symptoms. Several studies have shown that insomnia is moderately heritable and that proxy phenotypes for the three insomnia symptoms show different heritabilities. This suggests that different nocturnal symptoms of insomnia may arise from different genetic and biological backgrounds. Circadian genes are good candidates to account for these differences as they regulate the periodicity of several physiological functions including sleep. Evidence from studies in animals and humans have suggested that circadian genes might be involved in sleep disturbances such as insomnia. In this study, we investigated the association between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in circadian genes and individual symptoms of insomnia and their combinations using data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study 3 (the HUNT3 study, N = 50807). Participants (N = 6029) provided information about sleep onset insomnia, maintenance insomnia, and terminal insomnia. Participants who responded “several times a week” to at least one question regarding the mentioned symptoms were classified as cases (N = 3577) and categorized in seven subgroups according to possible symptom combinations. Controls (N = 2452) answered “Never/Seldom” to all sleep-related questions. Using multinomial regression, we assessed 73 SNPs in nine circadian genes (PER1, 2, 3, CRY1, 2, TIMELESS, CLOCK, REV-ERBα, ARNTL) for differences among symptoms subgroups. Twenty-five SNPs showed significant p-values and supportive odds-ratios. All significant SNPs in PER3 were associated with reporting all three symptoms simultaneously. SNPs in CRY genes were associated with terminal insomnia alone or in combination with other symptoms. Genes PER1 and two were mostly associated with sleep maintenance insomnia. However, none of the SNPs remained significant after False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction for multiple statistical testing. In conclusion, even though none of the SNPs remained significant after FDR correction, the clustering of some genes around specific symptoms points to the need for additional research on these relationships. |
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| Keywords: | Circadian genes symptoms of insomnia SNPs HUNT study |
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