High Fat Diet Increases [3H] Flunitrazepam Binding in the Mouse Brain that is Dependent on the Expression of the Dopamine D2 Gene

Analysis of Dopamine Receptor D2 Gene Polymorphism and Correlation with Dyslipidemia in the Chinese Population

Objective

The study aimed to explore the genotype and allele distributions of dopamine D2-like receptor (DRD2) gene -141C and C957T polymorphisms in the Chinese Han population with dyslipidemia, as well as their association with serum lipid levels.

Methods

One hundred fifty patients with dyslipidemia and 150 healthy people were recruited as the case and the control groups, respectively. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were detected. The target sequence of DRD2 polymorphisms was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and genotyped via Sanger sequencing.

Results

In DRD2 gene C957T (rs6277), three genotypes of CC, CT, and TT were detected with the frequencies of 92.67%, 6.67%, 0.67% in dyslipidemia cases, and 83.33%, 14.67%, 2.00% in the controls, respectively. The CT genotype and T allele frequencies were significantly low in the case group relative to the control group. After adjusting to other clinical indicators, the CT genotype of C957T polymorphism (hazard ratio = 0.401, 95% confidence interval = 0.181-0.890, p < 0.05) was still related to a significantly reduced risk of dyslipidemia. The C957T CT genotype carriers had the lowest values of serum TC, TG, LDL, and the highest values of serum HDL-C.

Conclusion

DRD2 gene C957T polymorphism was an independent influencing factor associated with the susceptibility to dyslipidemia, and the CT genotype was associated with decreased odds of susceptibility to dyslipidemia.

Hypothesizing That Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Associated Streptococcal (PANDAS) Causes Rapid Onset of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) Behaviors and May Require Induction of "Dopamine Homeostasis"

Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with group A streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a concept that is used to characterize a subset of children with neuropsychiatric symptoms, tic disorders, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), whose symptoms are exacerbated by group A streptococcal (GAS) infection. PANDAS has been known to cause a sudden onset of reward deficiency syndrome (RDS). RDS includes multiple disorders that are characterized by dopaminergic signaling dysfunction in the brain reward cascade (BRC), which may result in addiction, depression, avoidant behaviors, anxiety, tic disorders, and/or OCD. According to research by Blum et al., the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) gene polymorphisms are important prevalent genetic determinants of RDS. The literature demonstrates that infections like Borrelia and Lyme, as well as other infections like group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS), can cause an autoimmune reaction and associated antibodies target dopaminergic loci in the mesolimbic region of the brain, which interferes with brain function and potentially causes RDS-like symptoms/behaviors. The treatment of PANDAS remains controversial, especially since there have been limited efficacy studies to date. We propose an innovative potential treatment for PANDAS based on previous clinical trials using a pro-dopamine regulator known as KB220 variants. Our ongoing research suggests that achieving "dopamine homeostasis" by precision-guided DNA testing and pro-dopamine modulation could result in improved therapeutic outcomes.