Psychiatric symptoms and syndromes transcending diagnostic boundaries in Indian multiplex families: The cohort of ADBS study

AbstractAccelerator program for discovery in brain disorders using stem cells (ADBS) is an ongoing longitudinal study investigating the neurobiological aspects of five psychiatric disorders (Alzheimer’s dementia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorder or schizophrenia) in India. The study uses several techniques (brain-imaging, psychophysics, neuropsychology, next-generation sequencing, cellular models), and in-depth clinical assessments in a longitudinal cohort from multiple-affected families. This article explores the frequency of manifestations of different psychiatric symptoms and syndromes in the participants and their relatives from the first wave of this study (August 2016 to October 2019). We screened 3,583 families and enrolled 481 families (1406 participants; 773 affected with any of the 5 disorders, and 633 relatives). The participants had a high familial prevalence with nearly a third of FDRs affected. Though similar disorders aggregated, the majority (61%) of the families had dissimilar diagnoses among members. Moreover, 15% of affected participants had two or more co-occurring syndromes. Diverse cross-cutting symptoms, unrestricted to the index syndrome, were observed in participants across diagnostic categories. The pattern and extent of co-occurrence validate the need for a transdiagnostic approach. The repository of biomaterials as well as digital datasets will serve as a valuable resource for the larger scientific community.