Genetic and early-life determinants of premenstrual disorders

Premenstrual disorders (PMDs), including premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, affect millions of women globally and have a profound impact on the woman’s quality of life.

Although the etiology remains elusive, our work suggests 70% of PMD cases had symptom onset before age 20, while twin studies support a strong familial influence.

Leveraging the unique Swedish national registers and a large-scale prospective cohort with questionnaire data and biologic samples, this program aims to thoroughly assess the familial, namely genetic and early-life, contribution to PMDs.

Specifically, we aim to 1) examine the associations of antenatal and perinatal factors with PMD risk in the offspring using a sibling analysis; 2) identify genetic markers for PMDs using a genome-wide association analysis; and 3) utilize Mendelian randomization to estimate the causal effect of timing of menarche on PMDs, given a robust association showed in our recent work.

During 2021-2024, the applicant will actively lead this program and establish a multidisciplinary team across epidemiology, OB/GYN, psychiatry, and genetics.

This program will identify novel genetic and early-life determinants of PMD, offer fresh insight into disease mechanisms, and, with genetically informative designs, provide reliable evidence for causation and developing prevention strategies for women of reproductive age. This initiative will also bring together several international resources for future PMD research.