scholarly journals Diverse types of genomic evidence converge on alcohol use disorder risk genes

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 733-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulin Dai ◽  
Ruifeng Hu ◽  
Guangsheng Pei ◽  
Huiping Zhang ◽  
Zhongming Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Substance Dependence ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Epigenetic Factors ◽  
Glial Cell Proliferation

BackgroundAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common forms of substance use disorders with a strong contribution of genetic (50%–60%) and environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of AUD-associated variants, including those in alcohol metabolism genes. These genetic variants may modulate gene expression, making individuals more susceptible to AUD. A long-term alcohol consumption can also change the transcriptome patterns of subjects via epigenetic modulations.MethodsTo explore the interactive effect of genetic and epigenetic factors on AUD, we conducted a secondary analysis by integrating GWAS, CNV, brain transcriptome and DNA methylation data to unravel novel AUD-associated genes/variants. We applied the mega-analysis of OR (MegaOR) method to prioritise AUD candidate genes (AUDgenes).ResultsWe identified a consensus set of 206 AUDgenes based on the multi-omics data. We demonstrated that these AUDgenes tend to interact with each other more frequent than chance expectation. Functional annotation analysis indicated that these AUDgenes were involved in substance dependence, synaptic transmission, glial cell proliferation and enriched in neuronal and liver cells. We obtained a multidimensional evidence that AUD is a polygenic disorder influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors as well as the interaction of them.ConclusionWe characterised multidimensional evidence of genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic data in AUD. We found that 206 AUD associated genes were highly expressed in liver, brain cerebellum, frontal cortex, hippocampus and pituitary. Our studies provides important insights into the molecular mechanism of AUD and potential target genes for AUD treatment.

scholarly journals Chromatin architecture in addiction circuitry elucidates biological mechanisms underlying cigarette smoking and alcohol use traits.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Y.A Sey ◽  
Benxia Hu ◽  
Marina Iskhakova ◽  
Huaigu Sun ◽  
Neda Shokrian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Genetic Risk Factors ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Risk Genes

Cigarette smoking and alcohol use are among the most prevalent substances used worldwide and account for a substantial proportion of preventable morbidity and mortality, underscoring the public health significance of understanding their etiology. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified genetic variants associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol use traits. However, the vast majority of risk variants reside in non-coding regions of the genome, and their target genes and neurobiological mechanisms are unknown. Chromosomal conformation mappings can address this knowledge gap by charting the interaction profiles of risk-associated regulatory variants with target genes. To investigate the functional impact of common variants associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol use traits, we applied Hi-C coupled MAGMA (H-MAGMA) built upon cortical and midbrain dopaminergic neuronal Hi-C datasets to GWAS summary statistics of nicotine dependence, cigarettes per day, problematic alcohol use, and drinks per week. The identified risk genes mapped to key pathways associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol use traits, including drug metabolic processes and neuronal apoptosis. Risk genes were highly expressed in cortical glutamatergic, midbrain dopaminergic, GABAergic, and serotonergic neurons, suggesting them as relevant cell types in understanding the mechanisms by which genetic risk factors influence cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Lastly, we identified pleiotropic genes between cigarette smoking and alcohol use traits under the assumption that they may reveal substance-agnostic, shared neurobiological mechanisms of addiction. The number of pleiotropic genes was ~26-fold higher in dopaminergic neurons than in cortical neurons, emphasizing the critical role of ascending dopaminergic pathways in mediating general addiction phenotypes. Collectively, brain region- and neuronal subtype-specific 3D genome architecture refines neurobiological hypotheses for smoking, alcohol, and general addiction phenotypes by linking genetic risk factors to their target genes.

scholarly journals Genome-wide Meta-analysis of Alcohol Use Disorder in East Asians

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Zhou ◽  
Rasmon Kalayasiri ◽  
Yan Sun ◽  
Yaira Z. Nuñez ◽  
Hong-Wen Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Han Chinese ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
East Asians ◽  
Genome Wide

AbstractBACKGROUNDAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified ∼30 AUD risk genes in European populations, but many fewer in East Asians.METHODSWe conducted GWAS and genome-wide meta-analysis of AUD in 13,551 subjects with East Asian ancestry, using published summary data and newly genotyped data from four cohorts: 1) electronic health record (EHR)-diagnosed AUD in the Million Veteran Program (MVP)sample; 2) DSM-IV diagnosed alcohol dependence (AD) in a Han Chinese-GSA (array) cohort;3) AD in a Han Chinese-Cyto (array) cohort; and 4) two AD datasets in a Thai cohort. The MVP and Thai samples included newly genotyped subjects from ongoing recruitment. In total, 2,254 cases and 11,297 controls were analyzed. An AUD polygenic risk score was analyzed in an independent sample with 4,464 East Asians (Kaiser Permanente data from dbGaP). Phenotypes from survey data and ICD-9-CM diagnoses were tested for association with the AUD PRS.RESULTSTwo risk loci were detected: the well-known functional variant rs1229984 in ADH1B and rs3782886 in BRAP (near the ALDH2 gene locus) are the lead variants. AUD PRS was significantly associated with days per week of alcohol consumption (beta = 0.43, se = 0.067, p = 2.47×10−10) and nominally associated with pack years of smoking (beta = 0.09, se = 0.05, p = 4.52×10−2) and ever vs. never smoking (beta = 0.06, se = 0.02, p = 1.14×10−2).CONCLUSIONSThis is the largest GWAS of AUD in East Asians to date. Building on previous findings, we were able to analyze pleiotropy, but did not identify any new risk regions, underscoring the importance of recruiting additional East Asian subjects for alcohol GWAS.

scholarly journals Variants of the Aggression-Related RBFOX1 Gene in a Population Representative Birth Cohort Study: Aggressiveness, Personality, and Alcohol Use Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariliis Vaht ◽  
Kariina Laas ◽  
Noèlia Fernàndez-Castillo ◽  
Triin Kurrikoff ◽  
Margus Kanarik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies

Background: Recently, RBFOX1, a gene encoding an RNA binding protein, has consistently been associated with aggressive and antisocial behavior. Several loci in the gene have been nominally associated with aggression in genome-wide association studies, the risk alleles being more frequent in the general population. We have hence examined the association of four RBFOX1 single nucleotide polymorphisms, previously found related to aggressive traits, with aggressiveness, personality, and alcohol use disorder in birth cohort representative samples.Methods: We used both birth cohorts of the Estonian Children Personality Behavior and Health Study (ECPBHS; original n = 1,238). Aggressiveness was assessed using the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the Lifetime History of Aggressiveness structured interview at age 25 (younger cohort) or 33 (older cohort). Big Five personality at age 25 was measured with self-reports and the lifetime occurrence of alcohol use disorder assessed with the MINI interview. RBFOX1 polymorphisms rs809682, rs8062784, rs12921846, and rs6500744 were genotyped in all participants. Given the restricted size of the sample, correction for multiple comparisons was not applied.Results: Aggressiveness was not significantly associated with the RBFOX1 genotype. RBFOX1 rs8062784 was associated with neuroticism and rs809682 with extraversion. Two out of four analyzed RBFOX1 variants, rs8062784 and rs12921846, were associated with the occurrence of alcohol use disorder.Conclusions: In the birth cohort representative sample of the ECPBHS, no association of RBFOX1 with aggressiveness was found, but RBFOX1 variants affected basic personality traits and the prevalence of alcohol use disorder. Future studies on RBFOX1 should consider the moderating role of personality and alcohol use patterns in aggressiveness.

scholarly journals Evidence of shared genetic influences underlying schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder, but not alcohol consumption

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma C. Johnson ◽  
Manav Kapoor ◽  
Alexander S. Hatoum ◽  
Hang Zhou ◽  
Renato Polimanti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Covariance ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Brain Tissues

AbstractBackgroundAlcohol use disorder (AUD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) frequently co-occur, and recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified significant genetic correlations between them. In parallel, mounting evidence from GWAS suggests that alcohol consumption is only weakly genetically correlated with SCZ, but this has not yet been systematically investigated.MethodsWe used the largest published GWAS for AUD (total cases = 77,822) and SCZ (total cases = 46,827) to systematically identify genetic variants that influence both disorders (in either the same or opposite direction of effect) as well as disorder-specific loci, and contrast our findings with GWAS data for drinks per week (DPW; N = 537,349) as a measure of alcohol consumption.ResultsWe identified 55 independent genome-wide significant SNPs with the same direction of effect on AUD and SCZ, 9 with robust opposite effects, and 99 with disorder-specific effects. We also found evidence for 12 genes whose pleiotropic associations with AUD and SCZ are consistent with mediation via gene expression in the prefrontal cortex. The genetic covariance between AUD and SCZ was concentrated in genomic regions functional in brain tissues (p = 0.001). The genetic correlation between DPW and SCZ (rg = 0.102, SE = 0.022) was significantly lower than that for AUD and SCZ (rg = 0.392, SE = 0.029; p-value of the difference = 9.3e-18), and the genetic covariance between DPW and SCZ was not enriched for any meaningful tissue-specific categories.ConclusionsOur findings provide a detailed view of genetic loci that influence risk of both AUD and SCZ, suggest that biological commonalities underlying genetic variants with an effect on both disorders are manifested in brain tissues, and provide further evidence that SCZ shares meaningful genetic overlap with AUD and not merely alcohol consumption.

scholarly journals Multivariate GWAS elucidates the genetic architecture of alcohol consumption and misuse, corrects biases, and reveals novel associations with disease

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis T Mallard ◽  
Jeanne E Savage ◽  
Emma C Johnson ◽  
Yuye Huang ◽  
Alexis C Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
Socioeconomic Outcomes ◽  
Alcohol Involvement

ABSTRACTGenome-wide association studies (GWASs) of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), a ten-item screener for alcohol use disorder (AUD), have elucidated novel loci for alcohol consumption and misuse. However, these studies also revealed that GWASs can be influenced by numerous biases (e.g., measurement error, selection bias), which have led to inconsistent genetic correlations between alcohol involvement and AUD, as well as paradoxically negative genetic correlations between alcohol involvement and psychiatric disorders/medical conditions. To explore these unexpected differences in genetic correlations, we conducted the first item-level and largest GWAS of AUDIT items (N=160,824), and applied a multivariate framework to mitigate previous biases. In doing so, we identified novel patterns of similarity (and dissimilarity) among the AUDIT items, and found evidence of a correlated two-factor structure at the genetic level (Consumption and Problems, rg=.80). Moreover, by applying empirically-derived weights to each of the AUDIT items, we constructed an aggregate measure of alcohol consumption that is strongly associated with alcohol dependence (rg=.67) and several other psychiatric disorders, and no longer positively associated with health and positive socioeconomic outcomes. Lastly, by performing polygenic analyses in three independent cohorts that differed in their ascertainment and prevalence of AUD, we identified novel genetic associations between alcohol consumption, alcohol misuse, and human health. Our work further emphasizes the value of AUDIT for both clinical and genetic studies of AUD, and the importance of using multivariate methods to study genetic associations that are more closely related to AUD.

scholarly journals Investigation of convergent and divergent genetic influences underlying schizophrenia and alcohol use disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Emma C. Johnson ◽  
Manav Kapoor ◽  
Alexander S. Hatoum ◽  
Hang Zhou ◽  
Renato Polimanti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Genetic Covariance ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Genome Wide

Abstract Background Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) frequently co-occur, and large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified significant genetic correlations between these disorders. Methods We used the largest published GWAS for AUD (total cases = 77 822) and SCZ (total cases = 46 827) to identify genetic variants that influence both disorders (with either the same or opposite direction of effect) and those that are disorder specific. Results We identified 55 independent genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms with the same direction of effect on AUD and SCZ, 8 with robust effects in opposite directions, and 98 with disorder-specific effects. We also found evidence for 12 genes whose pleiotropic associations with AUD and SCZ are consistent with mediation via gene expression in the prefrontal cortex. The genetic covariance between AUD and SCZ was concentrated in genomic regions functional in brain tissues (p = 0.001). Conclusions Our findings provide further evidence that SCZ shares meaningful genetic overlap with AUD.

scholarly journals Genetic and Epigenetic Modifiers of Alcoholic Liver Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 3857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marica Meroni ◽  
Miriam Longo ◽  
Raffaela Rametta ◽  
Paola Dongiovanni
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcoholic Liver Disease ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Epigenetic Factors ◽  
Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD), a disorder caused by excessive alcohol consumption is a global health issue. More than two billion people consume alcohol in the world and about 75 million are classified as having alcohol disorders. ALD embraces a wide spectrum of hepatic lesions including steatosis, alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ALD is a complex disease where environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors contribute to its pathogenesis and progression. The severity of alcohol-induced liver disease depends on the amount, method of usage and duration of alcohol consumption as well as on age, gender, presence of obesity, and genetic susceptibility. Genome-wide association studies and candidate gene studies have identified genetic modifiers of ALD that can be exploited as non-invasive biomarkers, but which do not completely explain the phenotypic variability. Indeed, ALD development and progression is also modulated by epigenetic factors. The premise of this review is to discuss the role of genetic variants and epigenetic modifications, with particular attention being paid to microRNAs, as pathogenic markers, risk predictors, and therapeutic targets in ALD.

scholarly journals Analysis of chromatin organization and gene expression in T cells identifies functional genes for rheumatoid arthritis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Yang ◽  
Amanda McGovern ◽  
Paul Martin ◽  
Kate Duffus ◽  
Xiangyu Ge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽  
Gene Expression ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Dna Interaction ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Causal Genes

AbstractGenome-wide association studies have identified genetic variation contributing to complex disease risk. However, assigning causal genes and mechanisms has been more challenging because disease-associated variants are often found in distal regulatory regions with cell-type specific behaviours. Here, we collect ATAC-seq, Hi-C, Capture Hi-C and nuclear RNA-seq data in stimulated CD4+ T-cells over 24 hours, to identify functional enhancers regulating gene expression. We characterise changes in DNA interaction and activity dynamics that correlate with changes gene expression, and find that the strongest correlations are observed within 200 kb of promoters. Using rheumatoid arthritis as an example of T-cell mediated disease, we demonstrate interactions of expression quantitative trait loci with target genes, and confirm assigned genes or show complex interactions for 20% of disease associated loci, including FOXO1, which we confirm using CRISPR/Cas9.

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