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Cited by 97Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderGenetic Associations and EpidemiologyNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Genetics of ADHD: What Should the Clinician Know?

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Grimm, Oliver, Kranz, Thorsten M., Reif, Andreas·2020·Current Psychiatry Reports
DOI 10.1007/s11920-020-1141-xPMC PMC7046577
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Abstract

Purpose of Review: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows high heritability in formal genetic studies. In our review article, we provide an overview on common and rare genetic risk variants for ADHD and their link to clinical practice. Recent findings: The formal heritability of ADHD is about 80% and therefore higher than most other psychiatric diseases. However, recent studies estimate the proportion of heritability based on singlenucleotide variants (SNPs) at 22%. It is a matter of debate which genetic mechanisms explain this huge difference. While frequent variants in first mega-analyses of genome-wideassociation study data containing several thousand patients give the first genome-wide results, explaining only little variance, the methodologically more difficult analyses of rare variants are still in their infancy. Some rare genetic syndromes show higher prevalence for ADHD indicating a potential role for a small number of patients. In contrast, polygenic risk scores (PRS) could potentially be applied to every patient. We give an overview how PRS explain different behavioral phenotypes in ADHD and how they could be used for diagnosis and therapy prediction. Summary: Knowledge about a patient’s genetic makeup is not yet mandatory for ADHD therapy or diagnosis. PRS however have been introduced successfully in other areas of clinical medicine, and their application in psychiatry will begin within the next years. In order to ensure competent advice for patients, knowledge of the current state of research is useful forpsychiatrists.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Grimm, O., Kranz, T. M., & Reif, A.
Affiliations
Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
Corresponding author
Reif, Andreas
ORCID
Venue
Current Psychiatry Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-02-27
Volume
22
Issue
4
Pages
18-18
ISSN
  • 1523-3812 (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-1645
DOI
10.1007/s11920-020-1141-x
PMC
PMC7046577
OpenAlex
W3008672910
Cited by
97
References
13
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5
FWCI
1.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Current Psychiatry Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften (ZB MED) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD genetics, heritability, single nucleotide polymorphisms, rare variants, polygenic risk score, genetic syndromes, behavioral phenotypes, diagnosis, treatment prediction
MeSH terms
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Humans, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Multifactorial Inheritance, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Genome-Wide Association Study

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