genetics
Adolescent Binge Drinking Linked to Gene Variation and Emotional Drinking
A new study by researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands examines why some adolescents binge drink frequently and whether there is a possible association with genetics. Although many adolescents drink alcohol, drinking large amounts of alcohol frequently (binge drinking) may indicate a deeper problem.
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Gene Could Be Underlying Cause of Depression, Study Finds
A gene called MKP-1 appears to play an important role in the development of depression, and could be a target for a new class of anti-depressants, according to researchers from Yale University. Ronald S. Duman, senior author of the study and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale, said that the gene could be a primary cause or contributing factor to abnormalities that lead to depression.
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Trauma-Induced Changes to Genes May Lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health suggests that traumatic experiences "biologically embed" themselves in select genes, altering their functions and leading to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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Study Examines Role Chromosome 11 Plays in Alcohol Dependency
Alcohol dependency is an element of life worth researching to empower professionals to identify risk factors and proper prevention tools. Recent research by the Indiana University School of Medicine and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism notes that chromosome 11 could be partially responsible for alcohol dependency.
This genome-wide association study was part of a long-range research on alcohol dependence. Researchers found that a cluster of genes on chromosome 11 may incrementally add to a person’s risk for developing alcohol dependency, according to a post on Genome Web.
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Study Finds Genetic Mutations Associated with Suicide Risk among Depressed Patients
A new report reveals that single mutations in genes involved with nerve cell formation and growth appear to be associated with the risk of attempting suicide among individuals with depression. The study will appear in the April print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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Study Identifies Hormone as Culprit in Alcohol Overindulgence
Is it possible that overeating and indulging in the intoxication of alcohol could be blamed on a hormone? According to a recent study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the hormone gherlin may be responsible for the overindulgence in alcohol.
The study included trials on mice who were injected with gherlin, a hormone known to promote appetite and food intake. The mice receiving the injections were more likely to choose alcohol over water when presented with the two choices.
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Researchers Identify Gene Deletion that Leads to Learning and Behavior Issues
When an individual has challenges in their learning and behavior, parents and doctors usually want to know why. Now, a consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in a report said that the loss of a gene through deletion of genetic material on chromosome 15 is associated with significant abnormalities in learning and behavior.
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Genetics Can Determine Why Adolescents Drink
A person’s background and family history have a lot to do with whether or not they will deal with an alcohol problem at any time in their lives. A number of studies into the association between alcoholism and genes have been conducted on adults. Now, a new study examines the association between genetics and alcohol misuse among adolescents.
Science Daily recently posted a release that examined the findings of this study that are set to be published in the January 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
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Study Analysis Finds Gene Variation Associated with Increased Depression May Not Provide Link
Much of the effective treatment of depression lies in the accurate identification of its origin and triggers. While stressful life events are an obvious trigger, a specific gene variation that has been identified as increasing the risk in conjunction with stressful life events may actually have no impact at all.
This surprising finding is the result of research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, challenges the widely accepted assumption in identifying risk factors for depression.
Scientists believe that most mental disorders are the result of a combination of many genetic risk factors that interact with environmental triggers. Identifying the exact combinations continues to present significant challenges in the research, keeping absolute treatments at bay.
As a result of advances in scientific understanding and technologies in the last decade, mental health researchers found in 2003 that a gene involved in serotonin activity increased over a five-year period. This groundbreaking research received wide acclaim and produced far-reaching influence. The problem with this study is scientists have been unable to replicate its findings as follow-up studies have produced inconsistent results.
To challenge the 2003 findings in an effort to either confirm or contradict the results, Kathleen Merikangas, Ph.D., of the NIMH Intramural Research Program, led a group of scientists from NIMH and six universities in a meta-analysis, re-analyzing data on 14,250 participants in 14 studies published from 2003 through March 2009. This original data was analyzed to also identify potential gender differences associated with serotonin genotype, stressful life events, and depression.
While the workgroup did find a strong association between the number of stressful life events and risk of depression across the studies, the presumed high-risk version of the serotonin transporter gene failed to show a relationship to increased risk for major depression. The relationship was not shown alone or in interaction with stressful life events. The findings proved to be the same in men and women.
Researchers within the workgroup suggest these findings may account for the difficulty others have had in attempting to replicate the 2003 study. The analysis certainly brings into question the validity of the 2003 study and highlights earlier reviews that had also questioned the actual impact the gene had on depression risk.
“Even though our re-analysis did not confirm an association between the serotonin gene and depression, the finding that the environmental factor was strongly associated with depression in several studies reminds us that environmental factors are also involved in the complex pathways leading to mental disorders,” noted Merikangas in a NIMH statement. “Future progress will require thoughtful integration of the tools of genetics, epidemiology, and clinical and behavioral sciences.”
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain which helps brain cells to communicate with one another. This particular neurotransmitter is involved in regulating mood. A person’s inability to make or use the right amount of serotonin has been linked to a number of mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, autism, and schizophrenia.
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