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. 2025 Aug 20:55:e234.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291725100883.

Multi-ancestral genome-wide association study of clinically defined nicotine dependence reveals strong genetic correlations with other substance use disorders and health-related traits

Emma C Johnson  1 Dongbing Lai  2 Jared V Balbona  1 Alex P Miller  3 Alexander S Hatoum  1 Joseph D Deak  4   5 Mariela Jennings  6 David A A Baranger  7 Marco Galimberti  5   8 Kittipong Sanichwankul  9 Thorgeir Thorgeirsson  10 Sarah M C Colbert  11 Keyrun Adhikari  5   8 Anna R Docherty  12 Louisa Degenhardt  13 Tobias Edwards  14 Louis Fox  1 Alexandros Giannelis  14 Paul W Jeffries  1 Tellervo Korhonen  15 Claire L Morrison  16   17 Yaira Z Nunez  5   8 Teemu Palviainen  15 Mei-Hsin Su  18 Pamela N Romero Villela  16   17 Leah Wetherill  2 Emily A Willoughby  14 Stephanie M Zellers  15 Laura J Bierut  1 Jadwiga Buchwald  15 William E Copeland  19 Robin P Corley  17 Naomi P Friedman  16   17 Tatiana M Foroud  2 Nathan A Gillespie  18   20 Ian R Gizer  21 Andrew C Heath  1 Ian B Hickie  22 Jaakko Kaprio  15 Matthew C Keller  16   17 James J Lee  14 Penelope Lind  20   23   24 Pamela A Madden  1 Hermine H M Maes  18   25   26 Nicholas G Martin  20 Matt McGue  14 Sarah E Medland  20   27   28 Elliot C Nelson  1 John Pearson  20   29 Bernice Porjesz  30 Michael C Stallings  16   17 Scott Vrieze  14 Kirk C Wilhelmson  31   32   33 Henry R Kranzler  34   35 Raymond K Walters  36   37   38 Renato Polimanti  4   39   40 Robert Malison  4   41 Hang Zhou  4   5 Kari Stefansson  10   42 Sandra Sanchez-Roige  6   43   44 Marc Potenza  4   40   45   46   47 Apiwat Mutirangura  48 Vorasuk Shotelersuk  49   50 Rasmon Kalayasiri  51   52 Howard J Edenberg  2   53 Joel Gelernter  4   5   8   54 Arpana Agrawal  1
Affiliations

Multi-ancestral genome-wide association study of clinically defined nicotine dependence reveals strong genetic correlations with other substance use disorders and health-related traits

Emma C Johnson et al. Psychol Med. .

Abstract

Background: Genetic research on nicotine dependence has utilized multiple assessments that are in weak agreement.

Methods: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of nicotine dependence defined using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-NicDep) in 61,861 individuals (47,884 of European ancestry [EUR], 10,231 of African ancestry, and 3,746 of East Asian ancestry) and compared the results to other nicotine-related phenotypes.

Results: We replicated the well-known association at the CHRNA5 locus (lead single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP]: rs147144681, p = 1.27E-11 in EUR; lead SNP = rs2036527, p = 6.49e-13 in cross-ancestry analysis). DSM-NicDep showed strong positive genetic correlations with cannabis use disorder, opioid use disorder, problematic alcohol use, lung cancer, material deprivation, and several psychiatric disorders, and negative correlations with respiratory function and educational attainment. A polygenic score of DSM-NicDep predicted DSM-5 tobacco use disorder criterion count and all 11 individual diagnostic criteria in the independent National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III sample. In genomic structural equation models, DSM-NicDep loaded more strongly on a previously identified factor of general addiction liability than a "problematic tobacco use" factor (a combination of cigarettes per day and nicotine dependence defined by the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence). Finally, DSM-NicDep showed a strong genetic correlation with a GWAS of tobacco use disorder as defined in electronic health records (EHRs).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that combining the wide availability of diagnostic EHR data with nuanced criterion-level analyses of DSM tobacco use disorder may produce new insights into the genetics of this disorder.

Keywords: addiction; genome-wide association study; nicotine dependence; polygenic risk; psychiatric disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare none.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparing genetic correlations (r g) for DSM-NicDep, FTND, ICD-TUD, and CPD with other traits in European ancestry data. Traits include other substance use disorders (CanUD, cannabis use disorder [Levey et al., 2023]; OUD, opioid use disorder [Deak et al., 2022]; PAU, problematic alcohol use [Zhou et al., 2023]; ICD-TUD, ICD-based tobacco use disorder [Toikumo et al., 2024]), substance use behaviors (CanUse, cannabis ever-use [Pasman et al., 2018]; DPW, drinks per week [Saunders et al., 2022]; SmkInit, smoking initiation [Saunders et al., 2022]; SmkCessation, smoking cessation [Saunders et al., 2022]), psychiatric disorders and other mental health phenotypes (ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [Demontis et al., 2023]; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder [Nievergelt et al., 2019]), biomarkers (Cot + HC, cotinine +3-hydroxycotinine [Buchwald et al., 2021]), lung health-related traits (FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s), risk tolerance (Linnér et al., 2019), socioeconomic status-related traits (Edu attainment, educational attainment [Lee et al., 2018]; TDI, Townsend Deprivation Index]), executive function (EF [Hatoum, Morrison, et al., 2023]), and anthropometric measures (BMI, body mass index [Yengo et al., 2018]; height [Yengo et al., 2022]). * indicates r gs that significantly differ between DSM-NicDep and FTND at 𝛼 = 0.002 (Bonferroni correction for 24 comparisons).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A modified Addiction-Risk-Factor model. This model is patterned upon the common factor model in Figure 1A of Hatoum et al., , but updated with new, larger versions of the OUD (Deak et al., 2022), PAU (Zhou et al., 2023), and CanUD GWAS (Levey et al., 2023) and using three different phenotypes for tobacco GWAS. (a) DSM-NicDep. (b) PTU (Hatoum et al., 2022) GWAS. (c) ICD-TUD (Toikumo et al., 2024). *Significant loadings at p < 0.05. Addiction-rf, the Addiction-Risk-Factor; CanUD, cannabis use disorder; DSM-NicDep, nicotine dependence; ICD-TUD, ICD-based tobacco use disorder; OUD, opioid use disorder; PAU, problematic alcohol use.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Polygenic scores (PGSs) for DSM-NicDep (a), FTND (b), and DSM-NicDep, FTND, ICD-TUD, and CPD (c) predict individual DSM-5 nicotine use disorder and FTND criteria and total criterion or item counts, respectively, in the European ancestry subset of the NESARC-III sample. Filled circles represent estimates that were significant after FDR correction, while open circles represent estimates that were not significant after FDR correction. Hazardous = Recurrent use in physically hazardous situations; Fail = Recurrent use resulting in failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home; Tolerance = Marked need for increased amount to get the same effect or diminished effect of the same amount; TimeSpent = Great deal of time spent in activities necessary to obtain or use; GiveUp = Important recreational, social, or occupational activities given up or reduced; Problems = Use despite knowledge of persistent/recurrent physical/psychological problems; Larger = Taken over larger amounts/longer periods than intended; Withdrawal = Withdrawal syndrome or use to relieve/avoid syndrome; Cutdown = Persistent desire or unsuccessful attempts to cut down or control use; Crave = Craving or strong urge or desire to use; Social = Persistent use despite recurring social/interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by use; FTND1_within30min = How soon after you wake up do you smoke your first cigarette?; FTND2_prohibited = Do you find it difficult to refrain from smoking in places where it is forbidden?; FTND3_morning = Which cigarette would you hate most to give up?; FTND5_waking = Do you smoke more frequently during the first hours after waking than during the rest of the day?

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