ARFID Genes and Environment (ARFID-GEN): study protocol

Cynthia M Bulik; Nadia Micali; Casey M MacDermod; Baiyu Qi; Melissa A Munn-Chernoff; Laura M Thornton; Jennifer White; Lisa Dinkler; Emily M Pisetsky; Jessica Johnson; Katelin R Devine; Shelby N Ortiz; Ava E Silverman; Natasha Berthold; Alexis Dumain; Jerry Guintivano; Matthew Halvorsen; James J Crowley

doi:10.1186/s12888-023-05266-x

ARFID Genes and Environment (ARFID-GEN): study protocol

BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Nov 21;23(1):863. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05266-x.

Authors

Cynthia M Bulik^{1

2

3}, Nadia Micali^{4

5

6}, Casey M MacDermod⁷, Baiyu Qi⁸, Melissa A Munn-Chernoff^{7

9}, Laura M Thornton⁷, Jennifer White⁷, Lisa Dinkler¹⁰, Emily M Pisetsky⁷, Jessica Johnson^{7

11}, Katelin R Devine⁷, Shelby N Ortiz⁷, Ava E Silverman^{7

12}, Natasha Berthold^{7

13

14}, Alexis Dumain^{7

15}, Jerry Guintivano^{7

11}, Matthew Halvorsen^{11

16}, James J Crowley^{7

11

16}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
² Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
³ Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, US. cynthia_bulik@med.unc.edu.
⁴ Center for Eating and Feeding Disorders Research, Psychiatric Center Ballerup, Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark, Ballerup, Denmark.
⁵ Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Psykiatrisk Center Sct. Hans, Boserupvej 2, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark.
⁶ Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
⁸ Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, USA.
⁹ Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹¹ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
¹² Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063, USA.
¹³ University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
¹⁴ Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, US.
¹⁶ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: The Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder - Genes and Environment (ARFID-GEN) study is a study of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to risk for developing ARFID in children and adults.

Methods: A total of 3,000 children and adults with ARFID from the United States will be included. Parents/guardians and their children with ARFID (ages 7 to 17) and adults with ARFID (ages 18 +) will complete comprehensive online consent, parent verification of child assent (when applicable), and phenotyping. Enrolled participants with ARFID will submit a saliva sample for genotyping. A genome-wide association study of ARFID will be conducted.

Discussion: ARFID-GEN, a large-scale genetic study of ARFID, is designed to rapidly advance the study of the genetics of eating disorders. We will explicate the genetic architecture of ARFID relative to other eating disorders and to other psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and metabolic disorders and traits. Our goal is for ARFID to deliver "actionable" findings that can be transformed into clinically meaningful insights.

Trial registration: ARFID-GEN is a registered clinical trial: clinicaltrials.gov NCT05605067.

Keywords: Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder; Eating disorders; Genome-wide association; Picky eating; Psychiatric genetics; Psychiatric genomics consortium; Selective eating; Social media.

Publication types

Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

Adult
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder*
Child
Feeding and Eating Disorders*
Genome-Wide Association Study
Humans
Motivation
Retrospective Studies

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05605067

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data

Grants and funding