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Blum K, Braverman ER, Gold MS, Dennen CA, Baron D, Thanos PK, Hanna C, Elman I, Gondre-Lewis MC, Ashford JW, Newberg A, Madigan MA, Jafari N, Zeine F, Sunder K, Giordano J, Barh D, Gupta A, Carney P, Bowirrat A, Badgaiyan RD. Addressing cortex dysregulation in youth through brain health check coaching and prophylactic brain development. INNOSC THERANOSTICS & PHARMACOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2024; 7:1472. [PMID: 38766548 PMCID: PMC11100020 DOI: 10.36922/itps.1472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The Carter Center has estimated that the addiction crisis in the United States (US), if continues to worsen at the same rate, may cost the country approximately 16 trillion dollars by 2030. In recent years, the well-being of youth has been compromised by not only the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic but also the alarming global opioid crisis, particularly in the US. Each year, deadly opioid drugs claim hundreds of thousands of lives, contributing to an ever-rising death toll. In addition, maternal usage of opioids and other drugs during pregnancy could compromise the neurodevelopment of children. A high rate of DNA polymorphic antecedents compounds the occurrence of epigenetic insults involving methylation of specific essential genes related to normal brain function. These genetic antecedent insults affect healthy DNA and mRNA transcription, leading to a loss of proteins required for normal brain development and function in youth. Myelination in the frontal cortex, a process known to extend until the late 20s, delays the development of proficient executive function and decision-making abilities. Understanding this delay in brain development, along with the presence of potential high-risk antecedent polymorphic variants or alleles and generational epigenetics, provides a clear rationale for embracing the Brain Research Commission's suggestion to mimic fitness programs with an adaptable brain health check (BHC). Implementing the BHC within the educational systems in the US and other countries could serve as an effective initiative for proactive therapies aimed at reducing juvenile mental health problems and eventually criminal activities, addiction, and other behaviors associated with reward deficiency syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Blum
- Division of Addiction Research and Education, Center for Sports, Exercise and Global Mental Health, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
- Faculty of Education and Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Molecular Biology and Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Cross-Cultural Research and Educational Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
- Division of Personalized Recovery Science, Transplicegen Therapeutics, Llc., Austin, Tx., United of States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, United States of America
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Ketamine Clinic of South Florida, Pompano Beach, Florida, United States of America
| | - Eric R. Braverman
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - Mark S. Gold
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Catherine A. Dennen
- Department of Family Medicine, Jefferson Health Northeast, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - David Baron
- Division of Addiction Research and Education, Center for Sports, Exercise and Global Mental Health, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, United States of America
| | - Panayotis K. Thanos
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Research Institute on Addictions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Colin Hanna
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Research Institute on Addictions, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
| | - Igor Elman
- Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Marjorie C. Gondre-Lewis
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - J. Wesson Ashford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, United States of America
| | - Andrew Newberg
- Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Margaret A. Madigan
- The Kenneth Blum Behavioral and Neurogenetic Institute LLC, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - Nicole Jafari
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Cross-Cultural Research and Educational Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
- Department of Human Development, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
| | - Foojan Zeine
- Department of Human Development, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
- Awareness Integration Institute, San Clemente, California, United States of America
| | - Keerthy Sunder
- Department of Health Science, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, University California, UC Riverside School of Medicine, Riverside, California, United States of America
| | - John Giordano
- Division of Personalized Medicine, Ketamine Clinic of South Florida, Pompano Beach, Florida, United States of America
| | - Debmayla Barh
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
| | - Ashim Gupta
- Future Biologics, Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Paul Carney
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Missouri Health Care-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Abdalla Bowirrat
- Department of Molecular Biology and Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - Rajendra D. Badgaiyan
- Department of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, New York, United States of America
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Blum K, Bowirrat A, Baron D, Elman I, Makale MT, Cadet JL, Thanos PK, Hanna C, Ahmed R, Gondre-Lewis MC, Dennen CA, Braverman ER, Soni D, Carney P, Khalsa J, Modestino EJ, Barh D, Bagchi D, Badgaiyan RD, McLaughlin T, Cortese R, Ceccanti M, Murphy KT, Gupta A, Makale MT, Sunder K, Gold MS. Identification of stress-induced epigenetic methylation onto dopamine D2 gene and neurological and behavioral consequences. GENE & PROTEIN IN DISEASE 2024; 3:10.36922/gpd.1966. [PMID: 38766604 PMCID: PMC11100097 DOI: 10.36922/gpd.1966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
The D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene has garnered substantial attention as one of the most extensively studied genes across various neuropsychiatric disorders. Since its initial association with severe alcoholism in 1990, particularly through the identification of the DRD2 Taq A1 allele, numerous international investigations have been conducted to elucidate its role in different conditions. As of February 22, 2024, there are 5485 articles focusing on the DRD2 gene listed in PUBMED. There have been 120 meta-analyses with mixed results. In our opinion, the primary cause of negative reports regarding the association of various DRD2 gene polymorphisms is the inadequate screening of controls, not adequately eliminating many hidden reward deficiency syndrome behaviors. Moreover, pleiotropic effects of DRD2 variants have been identified in neuropsychologic, neurophysiologic, stress response, social stress defeat, maternal deprivation, and gambling disorder, with epigenetic DNA methylation and histone post-translational negative methylation identified as discussed in this article. There are 70 articles listed in PUBMED for DNA methylation and 20 articles listed for histone methylation as of October 19, 2022. For this commentary, we did not denote DNA and/or histone methylation; instead, we provided a brief summary based on behavioral effects. Based on the fact that Blum and Noble characterized the DRD2 Taq A1 allele as a generalized reward gene and not necessarily specific alcoholism, it now behooves the field to find ways to either use effector moieties to edit the neuroepigenetic insults or possibly harness the idea of potentially removing negative mRNA-reduced expression by inducing "dopamine homeostasis."
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth Blum
- Department of Molecular Biology, Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
- Division of Addiction Research & Education, Center for Sports, Exercise & Mental Health, Western University of the Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States of America
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, Wright University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, OH, United States of America
- Division of Nutrigenomics, The Kenneth Blum Behavioral Neurogenetic Institute, Austin, TX United States of America
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Nonakuri, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
- Department of Nutrigenomic Research, Victory Nutrition International, Inc., Bonita Springs, FL, United States of America
- Division of Personalized Neuromodulation Research, Sunder Foundation, Palm Springs, CA, United States of America
| | - Abdalla Bowirrat
- Department of Molecular Biology, Adelson School of Medicine, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - David Baron
- Division of Addiction Research & Education, Center for Sports, Exercise & Mental Health, Western University of the Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States of America
| | - Igor Elman
- Division of Personalized Neuromodulation Research, Sunder Foundation, Palm Springs, CA, United States of America
- Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Milan T. Makale
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, UC San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0819, United States of America
| | - Jean Lud Cadet
- Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD., United States of America
| | - Panayotis K. Thanos
- Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Clinical Research Institute on Addictions, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biosciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States of America; Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY., United States of America
| | - Colin Hanna
- Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Clinical Research Institute on Addictions, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biosciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States of America; Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY., United States of America
| | - Rania Ahmed
- Behavioral Neuropharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory on Addictions, Clinical Research Institute on Addictions, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biosciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States of America; Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY., United States of America
| | - Marjorie C. Gondre-Lewis
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, and Developmental Neuropsychopharmacology Laboratory, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington D.C., United States of America
| | - Catherine A. Dennen
- Department of Family Medicine, Jefferson Health Northeast, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Eric R. Braverman
- Division of Nutrigenomics, The Kenneth Blum Behavioral Neurogenetic Institute, Austin, TX United States of America
| | - Diwanshu Soni
- Division of Addiction Research & Education, Center for Sports, Exercise & Mental Health, Western University of the Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States of America
| | - Paul Carney
- Division Pediatric Neurology, University of Missouri, School of Medicine, Columbia, MO., United States of America
| | - Jag Khalsa
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Edward J. Modestino
- Department of Psychology, Curry College, Milton, MA., United States of America
| | - Debmalya Barh
- Centre for Genomics and Applied Gene Technology, Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, Nonakuri, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Debasis Bagchi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Rajendra D. Badgaiyan
- Department of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland OH., 44106, USA and Department of Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Thomas McLaughlin
- Division of Nutrigenomics, The Kenneth Blum Behavioral Neurogenetic Institute, Austin, TX United States of America
| | - Rene Cortese
- Department of Child Health – Child Health Research Institute, & Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health School of Medicine, University of Missouri, MO, United States of America
| | - Mauro Ceccanti
- Alcohol Addiction Program, Latium Region Referral Center, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy
| | - Kevin T. Murphy
- Division of Personalized Neuromodulation and Patient Care, PeakLogic, LLC, Del Mar, CA, United States of America
| | - Ashim Gupta
- Future Biologics, Lawrenceville, Georgia, 30043, United States of America
| | - Miles T. Makale
- Department of Psychology, UC San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0819, United States of America
| | - Keerthy Sunder
- Division of Personalized Neuromodulation Research, Sunder Foundation, Palm Springs, CA, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, UC Riverside School of Medicine, Riverside, CA, United States of America
| | - Mark S. Gold
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States of America
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Hopkins WD, Mulholland M, Latzman RD. Characterizing the personality and gray matter volume of chimpanzees that exhibit autism-related socio-communicative phenotypes. PERSONALITY NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 6:e10. [PMID: 38107781 PMCID: PMC10725775 DOI: 10.1017/pen.2023.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by stereotypies or repetitive behaviors and impairments in social behavior and socio-communicative skills. One hallmark phenotype of ASD is poor joint attention skills compared to neurotypical controls. In addition, individuals with ASD have lower scores on several of the Big 5 personality dimensions, including Extraversion. Here, we examine these traits in a nonhuman primate model (chimpanzees; Pan troglodytes) to further understand the relationship between personality and joint attention skills, as well as the genetic and neural systems that contribute to these phenotypes. We used archival data including receptive joint attention (RJA) performance, personality based on caretaker ratings, and magnetic resonance images from 189 chimpanzees. We found that, like humans, chimpanzees who performed worse on the RJA task had lower Extraversion scores. We also found that joint attention skills and several personality dimensions, including Extraversion, were significantly heritable. There was also a borderline significant genetic correlation between RJA and Extraversion. A conjunction analysis examining gray matter volume showed that there were five main brain regions associated with both higher levels of Extraversion and social cognition. These regions included the right posterior middle and superior temporal gyrus, bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal sulcus, and left superior frontal sulcus, all regions within the social brain network. Altogether, these findings provide further evidence that chimpanzees serve as an excellent model for understanding the mechanisms underlying social impairment related to ASD. Future research should further examine the relationship between social cognition, personality, genetics, and neuroanatomy and function in nonhuman primate models.
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Affiliation(s)
- William D. Hopkins
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX78602, USA
| | - Michele Mulholland
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX78602, USA
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Hopkins WD, Staes N, Guevara EE, Mulholland MM, Sherwood CC, Bradley BJ. Vasopressin, and not oxytocin, receptor gene methylation is associated with individual differences in receptive joint attention in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Autism Res 2023; 16:713-722. [PMID: 36738470 PMCID: PMC10308317 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Joint attention (JA) is an important milestone in human infant development and is predictive of the onset of language later in life. Clinically, it has been reported that children at risk for or with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) perform more poorly on measures of JA compared to neurotypical controls. JA is not unique to humans but has also been reported in great apes and to a lesser extent in more distantly related monkeys. Further, individual differences in JA among chimpanzees are associated with polymorphisms in the vasopressin and oxytocin genes, AVPR1A and OXTR. Here, we tested whether individual variation in DNA methylation of OXTR and AVPR1A were associated with performance on JA tasks in chimpanzees. We found that individual differences in JA performance was associated with AVPR1A methylation, but not OXTR methylation in the chimpanzees. The collective results provide further evidence of the role of AVPR1A in JA abilities in chimpanzees. The results further suggest that methylation values for AVPR1A may be useful biomarkers for identifying individuals at risk for ASD or related neurodevelopmental disorders associated with impairments in JA abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- William D Hopkins
- Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, Texas, USA
| | - Nicky Staes
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Behavioral Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Elaine E Guevara
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michele M Mulholland
- Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, Texas, USA
| | - Chet C Sherwood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Brenda J Bradley
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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Staes N, Guevara EE, Hopkins WD, Schapiro SJ, Eens M, Sherwood CC, Bradley BJ. The Role of Serotonergic Gene Methylation in Regulating Anxiety-Related Personality Traits in Chimpanzees. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:1673. [PMID: 36421387 PMCID: PMC9687614 DOI: 10.3390/biology11111673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
While low serotonergic activity is often associated with psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, mood, and personality disorders, variations in serotonin also contribute to normal personality differences. In this study, we investigated the role of blood DNA methylation levels at individual CpG sites of two key serotonergic genes (serotonin receptor gene 1A, HTR1A; serotonin transporter gene, SLC6A4) in predicting the personalities of captive chimpanzees. We found associations between methylation at 9/48 CpG sites with four personality dimensions: Dominance, Reactivity/Dependability, Agreeableness, and Openness. Directionality of effects were CpG location-dependent and confirmed a role of serotonergic methylation in reducing anxiety (Dominance) and aggression-related personality (Reactivity/Undependability) while simultaneously promoting prosocial (Agreeableness) and exploratory personalities (Openness). Although early-life adversity has been shown to impact serotonergic methylation patterns in other species, here, atypical early social rearing experiences only had a modest impact on CpG methylation levels in this chimpanzee sample. The precise environmental factors impacting serotonergic methylation in chimpanzees remain to be identified. Nevertheless, our study suggests a role in shaping natural variation in animal personalities. The results of this study offer a basis for future hypothesis-driven testing in additional populations and species to better understand the impact of ecology and evolution on complex behavioral traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicky Staes
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 26, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Elaine E. Guevara
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - William D. Hopkins
- Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA
| | - Steven J. Schapiro
- Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA
| | - Marcel Eens
- Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Chet C. Sherwood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Brenda J. Bradley
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
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