. 2021 May 4;21(1):234.

doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03212-3.

The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI): study protocol

Cynthia M Bulik^{1

2

3}, Laura M Thornton⁴, Richard Parker⁵, Hannah Kennedy⁶, Jessica H Baker⁴, Casey MacDermod⁴, Jerry Guintivano⁴, Lana Cleland⁶, Allison L Miller⁷, Lauren Harper⁴, Janne T Larsen^{8

9}, Zeynep Yilmaz^{8

9}, Jakob Grove^{9

10

11

12}, Patrick F Sullivan^{4

13

14}, Liselotte V Petersen^{8

9}, Jennifer Jordan⁶, Martin A Kennedy⁷, Nicholas G Martin⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7160, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7160, USA. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
² Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
³ Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7160, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7160, USA.
⁵ QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Locked Bag 2000, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, QLD, 4029, Australia.
⁶ Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
⁷ Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
⁸ National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁹ The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹¹ Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, CGPM, and Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹² Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹³ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁴ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

PMID: 33947359
PMCID: PMC8097919
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03212-3

The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI): study protocol

Cynthia M Bulik et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2021.

. 2021 May 4;21(1):234.

doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03212-3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7160, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7160, USA. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
² Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
³ Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7160, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7160, USA.
⁵ QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Locked Bag 2000, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, QLD, 4029, Australia.
⁶ Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
⁷ Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
⁸ National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁹ The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹¹ Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, CGPM, and Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹² Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
¹³ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁴ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

PMID: 33947359
PMCID: PMC8097919
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03212-3

Abstract

Background: The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI) is an international investigation exploring the role of genes and environment in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.

Methods: A total of 14,500 individuals with eating disorders and 1500 controls will be included from the United States (US), Australia (AU), New Zealand (NZ), and Denmark (DK). In the US, AU, and NZ, participants will complete comprehensive online phenotyping and will submit a saliva sample for genotyping. In DK, individuals with eating disorders will be identified by the National Patient Register, and genotyping will occur using bloodspots archived from birth. A genome-wide association study will be conducted within EDGI and via meta-analysis with other data from the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED).

Discussion: EDGI represents the largest genetic study of eating disorders ever to be conducted and is designed to rapidly advance the study of the genetics of the three major eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder). We will explicate the genetic architecture of eating disorders relative to each other and to other psychiatric and metabolic disorders and traits. Our goal is for EDGI to deliver "actionable" findings that can be transformed into clinically meaningful insights.

Trial registration: EDGI is a registered clinical trial: clinicaltrials.gov NCT04378101 .

Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Binge-eating disorder; Bulimia nervosa; Eating disorders; Genome-wide association; Psychiatric genetics; Psychiatric genomics consortium; Social media.

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Conflict of interest statement

C.M. Bulik: Shire (grant recipient, Scientific Advisory Board member); Idorsia (consultant); Pearson (author, royalty recipient).

L.M. Thornton: no competing interests to declare.

R. Parker: no competing interests to declare.

H. Kennedy: no competing interests to declare.

C. MacDermod: no competing interests to declare.

J. Guintivano: no competing interests to declare.

L. Cleland: no competing interests to declare.

A.L. Miller: no competing interests to declare.

L.E. Harper: no competing interests to declare.

J.T. Larsen: no competing interests to declare.

Z. Yilmaz: no competing interests to declare.

J. Grove: no competing interests to declare.

P.F. Sullivan reports: Lundbeck (advisory committee, grant recipient), RBNC Therapeutics (advisory committee, shareholder).

L.V. Petersen: no competing interests to declare.

J. Jordan: no competing interests to declare.

M. Kennedy: no competing interests to declare.

N.G. Martin: no competing interests to declare.

References

1. Watson H, Yilmaz Z, Thornton L, Hübel C, Coleman J, Gaspar H, et al. Genome-wide association study identifies eight risk loci and implicates metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa. Nat Genet. 2019;51(8):1207–1214. doi: 10.1038/s41588-019-0439-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Yilmaz Z, Hardaway J, Bulik C. Genetics and epigenetics of eating disorders. Adv Genom Genet. 2015;5:131–150. - PMC - PubMed
1. Thornton LM, Watson HJ, Jangmo A, Welch E, Wiklund C, von Hausswolff-Juhlin Y, Norring C, Herman BK, Larsson H, Bulik CM. Binge-eating disorder in the Swedish national registers: somatic comorbidity. Int J Eat Disord. 2017;50(1):58–65. doi: 10.1002/eat.22624. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Fichter MM, Quadflieg N. Mortality in eating disorders - results of a large prospective clinical longitudinal study. Int J Eat Disord. 2016;49(4):391–401. doi: 10.1002/eat.22501. - DOI - PubMed
1. Zerwas S, Larsen J, Petersen L, Thornton L, Mortensen P, Bulik C. The incidence of eating disorders in a nationwide study: associations with suicide risk and mortality. J Psychiatr Res. 2015;65:16–22. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.03.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI): study protocol

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The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI): study protocol

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