scholarly journals Neuropharmacological and Neurogenetic Correlates of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) As a Function of Ethnicity: Relevance to Precision Addiction Medicine

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 578-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomilowo Abijo ◽  
Kenneth Blum ◽  
Marjorie C. Gondré-Lewis

Background: Over 100 people die daily from opioid overdose and $78.5B per year is spent on treatment efforts, however, the real societal cost is multifold greater. Alternative strategies to eradicate/manage drug misuse and addiction need consideration. The perception of opioid addiction as a social/criminal problem has evolved to evidence-based considerations of them as clinical disorders with a genetic basis. We present evaluations of the genetics of addiction with ancestryspecific risk profiles for consideration. Objective: Studies of gene variants associated with predisposition to substance use disorders (SUDs) are monolithic, and exclude many ethnic groups, especially Hispanics and African Americans. We evaluate gene polymorphisms that impact brain reward and predispose individuals to opioid addictions, with a focus on the disparity of research which includes individuals of African and Hispanic descent. Methodology: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), Genome- wide association studies (GWAS); genetic variants; polymorphisms, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP); genomics, epigenetics, race, ethnic group, ethnicity, ancestry, Caucasian/ White, African American/Black, Hispanic, Asian, addictive behaviors, reward deficiency syndrome (RDS), mutation, insertion/deletion, and promotor region. Results: Many studies exclude non-White individuals. Studies that include diverse populations report ethnicity-specific frequencies of risk genes, with certain polymorphisms specifically associated with Caucasian and not African-American or Hispanic susceptibility to OUD or SUDs, and vice versa. Conclusion: To adapt precision medicine-based addiction management in a blended society, we propose that ethnicity/ancestry-informed genetic variations must be analyzed to provide real precision- guided therapeutics with the intent to attenuate this uncontrollable fatal epidemic.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D. Deak ◽  
Hang Zhou ◽  
Marco Galimberti ◽  
Daniel Levey ◽  
Frank R. Wendt ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundDespite the large toll of opioid use disorder (OUD), genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of OUD to date have yielded few susceptibility loci.MethodsWe performed a large-scale GWAS of OUD in individuals of European (EUR) and African (AFR) ancestry, optimizing genetic informativeness by performing MTAG (Multi-trait analysis of GWAS) with genetically correlated substance use disorders (SUDs). Meta-analysis included seven cohorts: the Million Veteran Program (MVP), Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), iPSYCH, FinnGen, Partners Biobank, BioVU, and Yale-Penn 3, resulting in a total N=639,709 (Ncases=20,858) across ancestries. OUD cases were defined as having lifetime OUD diagnosis, and controls as anyone not known to meet OUD criteria. We estimated SNP-heritability (h2SNP) and genetic correlations (rg). Based on genetic correlation, we performed MTAG on OUD, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and cannabis use disorder (CanUD).ResultsThe EUR meta-analysis identified three genome-wide significant (GWS; p≤5×10−8) lead SNPs—one at FURIN (rs11372849; p=9.54×10−10) and two OPRM1 variants (rs1799971, p=4.92×10−09 ; rs79704991, p=1.37×10−08; r2=0.02). Rs1799971 (p=4.91×10−08) and another OPRM1 variant (rs9478500; p=1.95×10−8; r2=0.03) were identified in the cross-ancestry meta-analysis. Estimated h2SNP was 12.75%, with strong rg with CanUD (rg =0.82; p=1.14×10−47) and AUD (rg=0.77; p=6.36×10−78). The OUD-MTAG resulted in 18 GWS loci, all of which map to genes or gene regions that have previously been associated with psychiatric or addiction phenotypes.ConclusionsWe identified multiple OUD variant associations at OPRM1, single variant associations with FURIN, and 18 GWS associations in the OUD-MTAG. OUD is likely influenced by both OUD-specific loci and loci shared across SUDs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel L Kember ◽  
Rachel A. Vickers-Smith ◽  
Heng Xu ◽  
Sylvanus Toikumo ◽  
Maria Niarchou ◽  
...  

Despite an estimated twin heritability of ~50%, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of opioid use disorder (OUD) have revealed few genome-wide significant (GWS) loci, with replicated findings only in European-ancestry individuals. To identify novel loci, including those in non-European ancestries, and improve our understanding of the biology of OUD, we conducted a cross-ancestry meta-analysis using the Million Veteran Program (MVP). OUD cases in MVP had at least 1 International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 or ICD-10 code for opioid abuse or dependence (N=31,473). Opioid-exposed controls (N=394,471) had one or more outpatient opioid prescription fills. We conducted GWAS for each major ancestral group in MVP: African Americans (AAs; N=88,498), European Americans (EAs; N=302,585), and Hispanic Americans (HAs; N=34,861), followed by a cross-ancestry meta-analysis. Ten loci were GWS in the cross-ancestry meta-analysis, 8 of them novel. In addition to the known coding variant rs1799971 in OPRM1, which was the lead SNP genome-wide (p=6.78x10-10), and a recently reported exonic variant in FURIN, we identified intronic variants in RABEPK, FBXW4, NCAM1, and KCNN1. Ancestry-specific analyses identified an additional novel locus for each of the 3 ancestry groups. A supplementary meta-analysis within EAs that included MVP and other samples identified a locus in TSNARE1, which was also GWS in the cross-ancestry meta-analysis of all datasets. Gene-based association analyses identified 1 gene in AAs (CHRM2) and 3 in EAs (OPRM1, DRD2, and FTO). Significant genetic correlations (rg's) were identified for 127 traits, including positive correlations with schizophrenia, problematic alcohol use, and major depressive disorder. The most significantly enriched cell type group was the central nervous system with gene-expression enrichment identified in brain regions previously associated with substance use disorders. With a case sample 50% larger than that of the previous largest GWAS, we identified 14 loci for OUD, including 12 novel loci, some of which were ancestry specific. These findings increase our understanding of the biological pathways involved in OUD, which can inform preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic efforts and thereby help to address the opioid epidemic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Kember ◽  
Rachel Vickers-Smith ◽  
Heng Xu ◽  
Sylvanus Toikumo ◽  
Maria Niarchou ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite an estimated twin heritability of ~50%, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of opioid use disorder (OUD) have revealed few genome-wide significant (GWS) loci, with replicated findings only in European-ancestry individuals. To identify novel loci, including those in non-European ancestries, and improve our understanding of the biology of OUD, we conducted a cross-ancestry meta-analysis using the Million Veteran Program (MVP). OUD cases in MVP had at least 1 International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 or ICD-10 code for opioid abuse or dependence (N=31,473). Opioid-exposed controls (N=394,471) had one or more outpatient opioid prescription fills. We conducted GWAS for each major ancestral group in MVP: African Americans (AAs; N=88,498), European Americans (EAs; N=302,585), and Hispanic Americans (HAs; N=34,861), followed by a cross-ancestry meta-analysis. Ten loci were GWS in the cross-ancestry meta-analysis, 8 of them novel. In addition to the known coding variant rs1799971 in OPRM1, which was the lead SNP genome-wide (p=6.78x10−10), and a recently reported exonic variant in FURIN, we identified intronic variants in RABEPK, FBXW4, NCAM1, and KCNN1. Ancestry-specific analyses identified an additional novel locus for each of the 3 ancestry groups. A supplementary meta-analysis within EAs that included MVP and other samples identified a locus in TSNARE1, which was also GWS in the cross-ancestry meta-analysis of all datasets. Gene-based association analyses identified 1 gene in AAs (CHRM2) and 3 in EAs (OPRM1, DRD2, and FTO). Significant genetic correlations (rg’s) were identified for 127 traits, including positive correlations with schizophrenia, problematic alcohol use, and major depressive disorder. The most significantly enriched cell type group was the central nervous system with gene-expression enrichment identified in brain regions previously associated with substance use disorders. With a case sample 50% larger than that of the previous largest GWAS, we identified 14 loci for OUD, including 12 novel loci, some of which were ancestry specific. These findings increase our understanding of the biological pathways involved in OUD, which can inform preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic efforts and thereby help to address the opioid epidemic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002204262110063
Author(s):  
Brian King ◽  
Ruchi Patel ◽  
Andrea Rishworth

COVID-19 is compounding opioid use disorder throughout the United States. While recent commentaries provide useful policy recommendations, few studies examine the intersection of COVID-19 policy responses and patterns of opioid overdose. We examine opioid overdoses prior to and following the Pennsylvania stay-at-home order implemented on April 1, 2020. Using data from the Pennsylvania Overdose Information Network, we measure change in monthly incidents of opioid-related overdose pre- versus post-April 1, and the significance of change by gender, age, race, drug class, and naloxone doses administered. Findings demonstrate statistically significant increases in overdose incidents among both men and women, White and Black groups, and several age groups, most notably the 30–39 and 40–49 ranges, following April 1. Significant increases were observed for overdoses involving heroin, fentanyl, fentanyl analogs or other synthetic opioids, pharmaceutical opioids, and carfentanil. The study emphasizes the need for opioid use to be addressed alongside efforts to mitigate and manage COVID-19 infection.


Author(s):  
Sarah McDougall ◽  
Priyanka Annapureddy ◽  
Praveen Madiraju ◽  
Nicole Fumo ◽  
Stephen Hargarten

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 1935-1937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura R Marks ◽  
Satish Munigala ◽  
David K Warren ◽  
Stephen Y Liang ◽  
Evan S Schwarz ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Monet Stevenson ◽  
Narendra Narendra Banerjee ◽  
Narendra Banerjee ◽  
Kuldeep Rawat ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
...  

Considering the prevalence of prostate cancer all over the world, it is desired to have tools, technologies, and biomarkers which help in early detection of the disease and discriminate different races and ethnic groups. Genetic information from the single gene analysis and genome-wide association studies have identified few biomarkers, however, the drivers of prostate cancer remain unknown in the majority of prostate cancer patients. In those cases where genetic association has been identified, the genes confer only a modest risk of this cancer, hence, making them less relevant for risk counseling and disease management. There is a need for additional biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. MicroRNAs are a class of non-protein coding RNA molecules that are frequently dysregulated in different cancers including prostate cancer and show promise as diagnostic biomarkers and targets for therapy. Here we describe the role of micro RNA 146a (miR-146a) which may serve as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for prostate cancer, as indicated from the data presented in this report. Also, a pilot study indicated differential expression of miR-146a in prostate cancer cell lines and tissues from different racial groups. Reduced expression of miR-146a was observed in African American tumor tissues compared to those from European Whites This report provides a novel insight into understanding the prostate carcinogenesis.


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