Evidence for a shared genetic contribution to loneliness and Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

Background: Loneliness, influenced by genetic and environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment, is one aspect of interpersonal dysfunction in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Numerous studies link loneliness and BPD and twin studies indicate a genetic contribution to this association. The aim of our study was to investigate whether genetic predisposition for loneliness and BPD risk overlap and whether genetic risk for loneliness contributes to higher loneliness reported by BPD patients, using genome-wide genotype data. Methods: We assessed the genetic correlation of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of loneliness and BPD using linkage disequilibrium score regression and tested whether a polygenic score for loneliness (loneliness-PGS) was associated with case-control status in two independent genotyped samples of BPD patients and healthy controls (HC; sample 1: 998 BPD, 1545 HC; sample 2: 187 BPD, 261 HC). In sample 2, we examined associations of loneliness-PGS with reported loneliness, and whether the loneliness-PGS influenced the association between childhood maltreatment and loneliness. Results: We found a genetic correlation between the GWAS of loneliness and BPD, a positive association of loneliness-PGS with BPD case-control status, and a positive association between loneliness-PGS and loneliness across groups. The loneliness-PGS did not moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and loneliness in BPD. Conclusion: Our study is the first to use genome-wide genotype data to show that the genetic factors underlying variation in loneliness in the general population and the risk for BPD overlap. The loneliness-PGS was associated with reported loneliness, indicating that genetic predisposition for loneliness might contribute to BPD risk.