A gene implicated in schizophrenia risk is also associated with risk for cannabis dependence

Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry

2012-10-11

(Press-News.org) Philadelphia, PA, October 11, 2012 – A paper by Shizhong Han and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry implicates a new gene in the risk for cannabis dependence. This gene, NRG1, codes for the ErbB4 receptor, a protein implicated in synaptic development and function.

The researchers set out to investigate susceptibility genes for cannabis dependence, as research has already shown that it has a strong genetic component.

To do this, they employed a multi-stage design using genetic data from African American and European American families. In the first stage, a linkage analysis, the strongest signal was identified in African Americans on chromosome 8p21. Then using a genome-wide association study dataset, they identified one genetic variant at NRG1 that showed consistent evidence for association in both African Americans and European Americans. Finally, they replicated the association of that same variant in an independent sample of African-Americans.

All together, the findings suggest that NRG1 may be a susceptibility gene for cannabis dependence.

An interesting feature of this paper is that these findings may also suggest a link between the genetics of schizophrenia and the genetics of cannabis dependence. NRG1 emerged into public awareness after a series of genetic studies implicated it in the heritable risk for schizophrenia. Subsequent studies in post-mortem brain tissue also suggested that the regulation of NRG1 was altered in the brains of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Thus, the current findings may help to explain the already established link between cannabis use and the risk for developing schizophrenia. A number of epidemiologic studies have attributed the association of cannabis use and schizophrenia to the effects of cannabis on the brain rather than a common genetic link between these two conditions.

"The current data provide a potentially important insight into the heritable risk for schizophrenia and raise the possibility that there are some common genetic contributions to these two disorders," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

However, further research will be necessary to further confirm the role that NRG1 plays in cannabis dependence and the potential link between cannabis use and psychosis.

### The article is "Linkage Analysis Followed by Association Show NRG1 Associated with Cannabis Dependence in African Americans" by Shizhong Han, Bao-Zhu Yang, Henry R. Kranzler, David Oslin, Raymond Anton, Lindsay A. Farrer, and Joel Gelernter (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.02.038). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 72, Issue 8 (October 15, 2012), published by Elsevier.

Notes for editors Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Joel Gelernter at +1 203 932 5711 Ext. 3590 or joel.gelernter@yale.edu.

The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.

John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.

About Biological Psychiatry Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.

The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.

Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports® published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.

About Elsevier Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact Rhiannon Bugno, Editorial Office
+1 214 648 0880
Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers create 'nanoflowers' for energy storage, solar cells

2012-10-11

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created flower-like structures out of germanium sulfide (GeS) – a semiconductor material – that have extremely thin petals with an enormous surface area. The GeS flower holds promise for next-generation energy storage devices and solar cells. "Creating these GeS nanoflowers is exciting because it gives us a huge surface area in a small amount of space," says Dr. Linyou Cao, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. "This could significantly increase ...

Eco-friendly optics: Spider silk's talents harnessed for use in biosensors, lasers, microchips

2012-10-11

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11—Spiders use their silk to catch lunch. Now physicists are using it to catch light. New research shows that natural silk could be an eco-friendly alternative to more traditional ways of manipulating light, such as through glass or plastic fiber optic cables. Two teams independently exploring possible applications for the material's photonic talents will present their latest breakthroughs at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2012, to be held next week in Rochester, N.Y. Biomedical engineer Fiorenzo Omenetto of Tufts ...

Airborne superbugs elude hospital cleaning regimes

2012-10-11

Hospital superbugs can float on air currents and contaminate surfaces far from infected patients' beds, according to University of Leeds researchers. The results of the study, which was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), may explain why, despite strict cleaning regimes and hygiene controls, some hospitals still struggle to prevent bacteria moving from patient to patient. It is already recognised that hospital superbugs, such as MRSA and C-difficile, can be spread through contact. Patients, visitors or even hospital staff can inadvertently ...

India's public school students on par with private students

2012-10-11

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Contrary to past research, private school students in India do not outperform their counterparts in public schools, finds a new study by a Michigan State University education researcher. The study challenges the claim that private schools are superior – a hot issue in India and other developing countries that are expanding K-12 educational offerings. During the past decade, some 40 million children have entered India's education system, giving rise to a growth in privately run schools. "Our study finds no consistent benefit of attending a private ...

UMass Amherst research scores advance in manipulating T-cells

2012-10-11

AMHERST, Mass. – Until recently, medical researchers had little hope of experimentally manipulating naïve T cells to study their crucial roles in immune function, because they were largely impenetrable, says polymer scientist Gregory Tew: "So far off limits we could not readily get inside to investigate their workings." Now, he and colleagues including immunologist Lisa Minter have found a way not only to get inside naïve T cells, but to deliver bio-active cargo such as proteins and synthetic molecules across that long-locked cell membrane, by using a new synthetic protein ...

New report examines potential impact of changes in Texas' Women's Health Program

2012-10-11

WASHINGTON and NEW YORK – A new report finds that Texas policies to exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from a state family planning program – the Women's Health Program (WHP) – would result in leaving tens of thousands of women unable to get care. "Deteriorating Access to Women's Health Services in Texas: Potential Effects of the Women's Health Program Affiliate Rule," released by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative in the Department of Health Policy of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, ...

Nerve signal discovery backs Nobel winner's theory

2012-10-11

Scientists have proved a 60-year-old theory about how nerve signals are sent around the body at varying speeds as electrical impulses. Researchers tested how these signals are transmitted through nerve fibres, which enables us to move and recognise sensations such as touch and smell. The findings from the University of Edinburgh have validated an idea first proposed by Nobel laureate Sir Andrew Huxley. It has been known for many years that an insulating layer – known as myelin – which surrounds nerve fibres is crucial in determining how quickly these signals are ...

Arctic and Southern Oceans appear to determine the composition of microbial populations

2012-10-11

Differing contributions of freshwater from glaciers and streams to the Arctic and Southern oceans appear to be responsible for the fact that the majority of microbial communities that thrive near the surface at the Poles share few common members, according to an international team of researchers, some of whom were supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). In a paper published in the Oct. 8 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers report that only 25 percent of the taxonomic groups identified by genetic sequencing ...

England World Cup wins and losses linked to 30 percent rise in domestic violence

2012-10-11

Domestic violence rates rose by an average of 30 percent each time England won or lost their games during the 2010 World Cup, but draws had little impact on the statistics. Those are the key findings of research carried out by statistician Professor Allan Brimicombe and BBC News journalist Rebecca Cafe and published in the October issue of Significance, the magazine of The Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. As a consequence of this and previous research, Professor Brimicombe believes there is a strong case for schools to educate pupils ...

Plasma screens enhanced as disorder strikes

2012-10-11

A new study improves our understanding of plasma sources, a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionised and which are used for example in plasma display panels. These results revealed by physicists from the University of Greifswald, Germany, Robert Wild and Lars Stollenwerk, and are about to be published in EPJ D. Under certain circumstances, plasma tends to form structures such as filaments of electric discharge akin to mini-lightning. The authors specifically investigated a so-called barrier discharge, which features at least ...

Adolescent boys who experience violence have up to 8 times the odds of perpetrating physical and sexual intimate partner violence that same day, per South African study collecting real-time data over

Critically endangered hawksbill turtles migrate up to 1,000km from nesting to foraging grounds in the Western Caribbean, riding with and against ocean currents to congregate in popular feeding hotspot

A gene implicated in schizophrenia risk is also associated with risk for cannabis dependence

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: