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The relationship between cognitive clusters and telomere length in bipolar-schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2022

Caroline Gurvich*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Natalie Thomas
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry & Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC, Australia
Abdul-Rahman Hudaib
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Tamsyn E. Van Rheenen
Affiliation:
Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Elizabeth H. X. Thomas
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Eric J. Tan
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Department of Mental Health, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Erica Neill
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Department of Mental Health, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Sean P. Carruthers
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Philip J. Sumner
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Marco Romano-Silva
Affiliation:
Department Saude Mental, Faculdade de Medicina, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Kiymet Bozaoglu
Affiliation:
Bruce Lefroy Centre for Genetic Health Research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jayashri Kulkarni
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Susan L. Rossell
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Department of Mental Health, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Caroline Gurvich, E-mail: caroline.gurvich@monash.edu

Abstract

Background

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are complex mental illnesses that are associated with cognitive deficits. There is considerable cognitive heterogeneity that exists within both disorders. Studies that cluster schizophrenia and bipolar patients into subgroups based on their cognitive profile increasingly demonstrate that, relative to healthy controls, there is a severely compromised subgroup and a relatively intact subgroup. There is emerging evidence that telomere shortening, a marker of cellular senescence, may be associated with cognitive impairments. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between cognitive subgroups in bipolar-schizophrenia spectrum disorders and telomere length against a healthy control sample.

Methods

Participants included a transdiagnostic group diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n = 73) and healthy controls (n = 113). Cognitive clusters within the transdiagnostic patient group, were determined using K-means cluster analysis based on current cognitive functioning (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery scores). Telomere length was determined using quantitative PCRs genomic DNA extracted from whole blood. Emergent clusters were then compared to the healthy control group on telomere length.

Results

Two clusters emerged within the patient group that were deemed to reflect a relatively intact cognitive group and a cognitively impaired subgroup. Telomere length was significantly shorter in the severely impaired cognitive subgroup compared to the healthy control group.

Conclusions

This study replicates previous findings of transdiagnostic cognitive subgroups and associates shorter telomere length with the severely impaired cognitive subgroup. These findings support emerging literature associating cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders to accelerated cellular aging as indexed by telomere length.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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