Narcolepsy as a potential risk factor for Schizophrenia

Bibliographic Details
Title: Narcolepsy as a potential risk factor for Schizophrenia
Authors: Reyhane Eghtedarian, Anniina M. Tervi, Samuel E. Jones, FinnGen, Markku Partinen, Essi Viippola, Hanna M. Ollila
Source: Translational Psychiatry, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2025)
Publisher Information: Nature Publishing Group, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: LCC:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Subject Terms: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571
More Details: Abstract Narcolepsy is a severe sleep disorder with characteristics of fatigue, fragmented sleep, cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations. Earlier clinical studies have reported the onset of schizophrenia after narcolepsy but the causality behind narcolepsy and schizophrenia is unknown. Our goal was to understand the causality between narcolepsy and schizophrenia. To estimate the comorbidity between narcolepsy and schizophrenia, we employed data from the FinRegistry that contains data for the total population of Finland in total 7.2 million individuals (N = 1664 individuals with narcolepsy and 55,372 with schizophrenia). We then used Mendelian randomization and previously published genome-wide association data to test the causality between narcolepsy and schizophrenia. We observed a robust causal association from narcolepsy to schizophrenia using the HLA-independent lead variants (P-value = 6.0 × 10−4), which was accentuated when including the HLA locus (P-value = 4.48 × 10−7). Furthermore, we observed a modest bidirectional causality from schizophrenia to narcolepsy (P-value = 0.015). There was no evidence of pleiotropy. Our findings indicate a causal relationship where narcolepsy may increase the risk for schizophrenia, and a bidirectional causality from schizophrenia to narcolepsy. Additionally, our results clarify the psychiatric burden in narcolepsy.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2158-3188
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2158-3188
DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03259-w
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/8e7af8c719864b3c969bf405b1f2746d
Accession Number: edsdoj.8e7af8c719864b3c969bf405b1f2746d
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:21583188
DOI:10.1038/s41398-025-03259-w
Published in:Translational Psychiatry
Language:English