1
|
Sabouhi S, Vaezi A, Sharbafchi MR, Aerni A, Bentz D, Coynel D, de Quervain D, Fehlmann B, Freytag V, Gerhards C, Papassotiropoulos A, Schicktanz N, Schlitt T, Zimmer A, Zuber P, Amini E. The Iranian Corona Stress Study: Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic in an Iranian Population. Int J Prev Med 2022; 13:129. [PMID: 36452472 PMCID: PMC9704483 DOI: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_281_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To assess the psychological consequences of changes during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the Iranian population. METHODS We performed an anonymous online survey in the first 3 weeks of March 2020. Individuals older than 14 who could read Persian, and lived in Iran, were eligible for the study. The participants had to rate their stress levels and depressive symptoms (using a nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9) during the last 2 weeks and before the pandemic retrospectively. The changes in the psychological measurements and their association with the sociodemographic factors and burdens due to confinement were assessed. RESULTS Overall, among the 3,210 subjects who participated in our study, both the stress levels and average depression scores increased. However, about 23% of the subjects reported a decrease in their stress levels. The burden of childcare, restrictions in private life, and thoughts about the future were positively correlated with the changes in the stress levels and depression scores (|r| > 0.15). However, feeling relieved in the pandemic condition, and enjoying more family time were associated with less change in the stress and depression scores. Being religious (odds ratio [OR] [CI]: 1.5 [1.3-1-8]) and older age (OR [CI]: 2.9 [1.8-4.6] for >55 years old) were identified as the resilience factors, whereas being a student (OR [CI]: 2.1 [1.6;2.7]), seeking a job (OR [CI]: 2.6 [1.8;3.9]), and history of a psychiatric disorder (OR [CI]: 3.2 [2.6;4]) were identified as the risk factors for depression. CONCLUSIONS The stress levels and depressive symptoms have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and this increase is related to different social and personal burdens due to the confinement conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sadegh Sabouhi
- Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Atefeh Vaezi
- Cancer Prevention Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Sharbafchi
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Amanda Aerni
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dorothee Bentz
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Coynel
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Bernhard Fehlmann
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Virginie Freytag
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christiane Gerhards
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Nathalie Schicktanz
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Schlitt
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Anja Zimmer
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Priska Zuber
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ehssan Amini
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland,Address for correspondence: Dr. Ehssan Amini, Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, Faculty of Psychology and Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Loos E, Egli T, Coynel D, Fastenrath M, Freytag V, Papassotiropoulos A, de Quervain DJF, Milnik A. Predicting emotional arousal and emotional memory performance from an identical brain network. Neuroimage 2019; 189:459-467. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2018] [Revised: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
|
3
|
Wilker S, Schneider A, Conrad D, Pfeiffer A, Boeck C, Lingenfelder B, Freytag V, Vukojevic V, Vogler C, Milnik A, Papassotiropoulos A, J.-F. de Quervain D, Elbert T, Kolassa S, Kolassa IT. Genetic variation is associated with PTSD risk and aversive memory: Evidence from two trauma-Exposed African samples and one healthy European sample. Transl Psychiatry 2018; 8:251. [PMID: 30467376 PMCID: PMC6250662 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-018-0297-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2017] [Revised: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The probability to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), characterized by vivid, intrusive emotional memories of the encountered traumatic events, depends - among other factors - on the number of previous traumatic experiences (traumatic load) and individual genetic vulnerability. So far, our knowledge regarding the biological underpinnings of PTSD is relatively sparse. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) followed by independent replication might help to discover novel, so far unknown biological mechanisms associated with the development of traumatic memories. Here, a GWAS was conducted in N = 924 Northern Ugandan rebel war survivors and identified seven suggestively significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p ≤ 1 × 10-5) for lifetime PTSD risk. Of these seven SNPs, the association of rs3852144 on chromosome 5 was replicated in an independent sample of Rwandan genocide survivors (N = 370, p < .01). While PTSD risk increased with accumulating traumatic experiences, the vulnerability was reduced in carriers of the minor G-allele in an additive manner. Correspondingly, memory for aversive pictures decreased with higher number of the minor G-allele in a sample of N = 2698 healthy Swiss individuals. Finally, investigations on N = 90 PTSD patients treated with Narrative Exposure Therapy indicated an additive effect of genotype on PTSD symptom change from pre-treatment to four months after treatment, but not between pre-treatment and the 10-months follow-up. In conclusion, emotional memory formation seems to decline with increasing number of rs3852144 G-alleles, rendering individuals more resilient to PTSD development. However, the impact on therapy outcome remains preliminary and further research is needed to determine how this intronic marker may affect memory processes in detail.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Wilker
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Anna Schneider
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Daniela Conrad
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. .,Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Anett Pfeiffer
- 0000 0001 0658 7699grid.9811.1Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Christina Boeck
- 0000 0004 1936 9748grid.6582.9Clinical & Biological Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Birke Lingenfelder
- 0000 0001 0658 7699grid.9811.1Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Virginie Freytag
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Vogler
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Annette Milnik
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique J.-F. de Quervain
- 0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland ,0000 0004 1937 0642grid.6612.3Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Elbert
- 0000 0001 0658 7699grid.9811.1Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Conrad D, Wilker S, Schneider A, Karabatsiakis A, Pfeiffer A, Kolassa S, Freytag V, Vukojevic V, Vogler C, Milnik A, Papassotiropoulos A, J-F de Quervain D, Elbert T, Kolassa IT. Integrated genetic, epigenetic, and gene set enrichment analyses identify NOTCH as a potential mediator for PTSD risk after trauma: Results from two independent African cohorts. Psychophysiology 2018; 57:e13288. [PMID: 30328613 PMCID: PMC7379258 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases with the number of traumatic event types experienced (trauma load) in interaction with other psychobiological risk factors. The NOTCH (neurogenic locus notch homolog proteins) signaling pathway, consisting of four different trans‐membrane receptor proteins (NOTCH1–4), constitutes an evolutionarily well‐conserved intercellular communication pathway (involved, e.g., in cell–cell interaction, inflammatory signaling, and learning processes). Its association with fear memory consolidation makes it an interesting candidate for PTSD research. We tested for significant associations of common genetic variants of NOTCH1–4 (investigated by microarray) and genomic methylation of saliva‐derived DNA with lifetime PTSD risk in independent cohorts from Northern Uganda (N1 = 924) and Rwanda (N2 = 371), and investigated whether NOTCH‐related gene sets were enriched for associations with lifetime PTSD risk. We found associations of lifetime PTSD risk with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2074621 (NOTCH3) (puncorrected = 0.04) in both cohorts, and with methylation of CpG site cg17519949 (NOTCH3) (puncorrected = 0.05) in Rwandans. Yet, none of the (epi‐)genetic associations survived multiple testing correction. Gene set enrichment analyses revealed enrichment for associations of two NOTCH pathways with lifetime PTSD risk in Ugandans: NOTCH binding (pcorrected = 0.003) and NOTCH receptor processing (pcorrected = 0.01). The environmental factor trauma load was significant in all analyses (all p < 0.001). Our integrated methodological approach suggests NOTCH as a possible mediator of PTSD risk after trauma. The results require replication, and the precise underlying pathophysiological mechanisms should be illuminated in future studies. Integrating genetic, epigenetic, and gene set enrichment analyses, while accounting for the environmental factor traumatic load, we identified stress‐ and memory‐associated neurogenic locus notch homolog protein (NOTCH) genes and related gene sets as potential risk mediators for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after trauma. Thus, our results strengthen the presumed role of memory‐ and inflammation‐associated genes in PTSD development, and revealed a promising target for future treatment studies. Furthermore, we demonstrated the importance of traumatic load in PTSD etiology, and of an integrated approach in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the functionality of PTSD‐associated markers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Conrad
- Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Clinical & Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sarah Wilker
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Anna Schneider
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Alexander Karabatsiakis
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Anett Pfeiffer
- Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Virginie Freytag
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Vogler
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Annette Milnik
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Elbert
- Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Iris-Tatjana Kolassa
- Clinical & Biological Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Freytag V, Vukojevic V, Wagner-Thelen H, Milnik A, Vogler C, Leber M, Weinhold L, Böhmer AC, Riedel-Heller S, Maier W, de Quervain DJF, Ramirez A, Papassotiropoulos A. Genetic estimators of DNA methylation provide insights into the molecular basis of polygenic traits. Transl Psychiatry 2018; 8:31. [PMID: 29382824 PMCID: PMC5802460 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-017-0070-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Revised: 10/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The large biological distance between genetic risk loci and their mechanistic consequences in the tissue of interest limits the ability to establish functionality of susceptibility variants for genetically complex traits. Such a biological gap may be reduced through the systematic study of molecular mediators of genomic action, such as epigenetic modification. Here, we report the identification of robust genetic estimators of whole-blood CpG methylation, which can serve as intermediate molecular traits amenable to association testing with other genetically complex traits. We describe the relationship between these estimators and gene expression, demonstrate their genome-wide applicability to association testing even in the absence of individual genotypic data, and show that these estimators powerfully identify methylation-related genomic loci associated with polygenic traits and common diseases, such as schizophrenia. The use of genetic estimators for blood DNA methylation, which are made publically available, can serve as a valuable tool for the identification of epigenetic underpinnings of complex traits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Freytag
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Holger Wagner-Thelen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Annette Milnik
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Vogler
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Markus Leber
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Leonie Weinhold
- Department of Medical Biometry, Informatics and Epidemiology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Anne C Böhmer
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department of Genomics, Life and Brain Center, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Steffi Riedel-Heller
- Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Maier
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Alfredo Ramirez
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
- Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland.
- Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Egli T, Vukojevic V, Sengstag T, Jacquot M, Cabezón R, Coynel D, Freytag V, Heck A, Vogler C, de Quervain DJF, Papassotiropoulos A, Milnik A. Exhaustive search for epistatic effects on the human methylome. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13669. [PMID: 29057891 PMCID: PMC5651902 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13256-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 09/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies assessing the existence and magnitude of epistatic effects on complex human traits provide inconclusive results. The study of such effects is complicated by considerable increase in computational burden, model complexity, and model uncertainty, which in concert decrease model stability. An additional source introducing significant uncertainty with regard to the detection of robust epistasis is the biological distance between the genetic variation and the trait under study. Here we studied CpG methylation, a genetically complex molecular trait that is particularly close to genomic variation, and performed an exhaustive search for two-locus epistatic effects on the CpG-methylation signal in two cohorts of healthy young subjects. We detected robust epistatic effects for a small number of CpGs (N = 404). Our results indicate that epistatic effects explain only a minor part of variation in DNA-CpG methylation. Interestingly, these CpGs were more likely to be associated with gene-expression of nearby genes, as also shown by their overrepresentation in DNase I hypersensitivity sites and underrepresentation in CpG islands. Finally, gene ontology analysis showed a significant enrichment of these CpGs in pathways related to HPV-infection and cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Egli
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thierry Sengstag
- sciCORE, Scientific Computing Center, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland.,SIB - Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Martin Jacquot
- sciCORE, Scientific Computing Center, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Rubén Cabezón
- sciCORE, Scientific Computing Center, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Coynel
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Virginie Freytag
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Angela Heck
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Vogler
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Annette Milnik
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland. .,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland. .,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Coynel D, Gschwind L, Fastenrath M, Freytag V, Milnik A, Spalek K, Papassotiropoulos A, de Quervain DJF. Picture free recall performance linked to the brain's structural connectome. Brain Behav 2017; 7:e00721. [PMID: 28729929 PMCID: PMC5516597 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2017] [Revised: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Memory functions are highly variable between healthy humans. The neural correlates of this variability remain largely unknown. METHODS Here, we investigated how differences in free recall performance are associated with DTI-based properties of the brain's structural connectome and with grey matter volumes in 664 healthy young individuals tested in the same MR scanner. RESULTS Global structural connectivity, but not overall or regional grey matter volumes, positively correlated with recall performance. Moreover, a set of 22 inter-regional connections, including some with no previously reported relation to human memory, such as the connection between the temporal pole and the nucleus accumbens, explained 7.8% of phenotypic variance. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this large-scale study indicates that individual memory performance is associated with the level of structural brain connectivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Coynel
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Leo Gschwind
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Division of Molecular Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Matthias Fastenrath
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Virginie Freytag
- Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Division of Molecular Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Annette Milnik
- Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Division of Molecular Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Klara Spalek
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Division of Molecular Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum Life Sciences Training Facility University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience Department of Psychology University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform University of Basel Basel Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics University of Basel Basel Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Freytag V, Carrillo-Roa T, Milnik A, Sämann PG, Vukojevic V, Coynel D, Demougin P, Egli T, Gschwind L, Jessen F, Loos E, Maier W, Riedel-Heller SG, Scherer M, Vogler C, Wagner M, Binder EB, de Quervain DJF, Papassotiropoulos A. A peripheral epigenetic signature of immune system genes is linked to neocortical thickness and memory. Nat Commun 2017; 8:15193. [PMID: 28443631 PMCID: PMC5414038 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing age is tightly linked to decreased thickness of the human neocortex. The biological mechanisms that mediate this effect are hitherto unknown. The DNA methylome, as part of the epigenome, contributes significantly to age-related phenotypic changes. Here, we identify an epigenetic signature that is associated with cortical thickness (P=3.86 × 10−8) and memory performance in 533 healthy young adults. The epigenetic effect on cortical thickness was replicated in a sample comprising 596 participants with major depressive disorder and healthy controls. The epigenetic signature mediates partially the effect of age on cortical thickness (P<0.001). A multilocus genetic score reflecting genetic variability of this signature is associated with memory performance (P=0.0003) in 3,346 young and elderly healthy adults. The genomic location of the contributing methylation sites points to the involvement of specific immune system genes. The decomposition of blood methylome-wide patterns bears considerable potential for the study of brain-related traits. Cortical thickness has high heritability estimates and is known to be influenced by genetic factors. Here, Freytag and colleagues show that DNA methylation patterns of peripheral blood monocytes are also correlated with cortical thickness and memory performance in human.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Freytag
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tania Carrillo-Roa
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, D-80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Annette Milnik
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Philipp G Sämann
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, D-80804 Munich, Germany
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Coynel
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Demougin
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Egli
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Leo Gschwind
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Frank Jessen
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), D-53175 Bonn, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Medical Faculty, D-50924 Cologne, Germany
| | - Eva Loos
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Wolfgang Maier
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), D-53175 Bonn, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, D-53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Steffi G Riedel-Heller
- Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Scherer
- Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Department of Primary Medical Care, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian Vogler
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Michael Wagner
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), D-53175 Bonn, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, D-53105 Bonn, Germany
| | - Elisabeth B Binder
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, D-80804 Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055 Basel, Switzerland.,Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Heck A, Milnik A, Vukojevic V, Petrovska J, Egli T, Singer J, Escobar P, Sengstag T, Coynel D, Freytag V, Fastenrath M, Demougin P, Loos E, Hartmann F, Schicktanz N, Delarue Bizzini B, Vogler C, Kolassa IT, Wilker S, Elbert T, Schwede T, Beisel C, Beerenwinkel N, de Quervain DJF, Papassotiropoulos A. Exome sequencing of healthy phenotypic extremes links TROVE2 to emotional memory and PTSD. Nat Hum Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-017-0081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
|
10
|
Milnik A, Vogler C, Demougin P, Egli T, Freytag V, Hartmann F, Heck A, Peter F, Spalek K, Stetak A, de Quervain DJF, Papassotiropoulos A, Vukojevic V. Common epigenetic variation in a European population of mentally healthy young adults. J Psychiatr Res 2016; 83:260-268. [PMID: 27710795 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Revised: 08/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation represents an important link between structural genetic variation and complex phenotypes. The study of genome-wide CpG methylation and its relation to traits relevant to psychiatry has become increasingly important. Here, we analyzed quality metrics of 394,043 CpG sites in two samples of 568 and 319 mentally healthy young adults. For 25% of all CpGs we observed medium to large common epigenetic variation. These CpGs were overrepresented in open sea and shore regions, as well as in intergenic regions. They also showed a strong enrichment of significant hits in association analyses. Furthermore, a significant proportion of common DNA methylation is at least partially genetically driven and thus may be observed similarly across tissues. These findings could be of particular relevance for studies of complex neuropsychiatric traits, which often rely on proxy tissues.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Annette Milnik
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Christian Vogler
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Philippe Demougin
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Egli
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Virginie Freytag
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Francina Hartmann
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Angela Heck
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Fabian Peter
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Klara Spalek
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Attila Stetak
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dominique J-F de Quervain
- Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Papassotiropoulos
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Vanja Vukojevic
- Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Transfaculty Research Platform Molecular and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Basel, CH-4055, Basel, Switzerland; Department Biozentrum, Life Sciences Training Facility, University of Basel, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Heck A, Fastenrath M, Coynel D, Auschra B, Bickel H, Freytag V, Gschwind L, Hartmann F, Jessen F, Kaduszkiewicz H, Maier W, Milnik A, Pentzek M, Riedel-Heller SG, Spalek K, Vogler C, Wagner M, Weyerer S, Wolfsgruber S, de Quervain DF, Papassotiropoulos A. Genetic Analysis of Association Between Calcium Signaling and Hippocampal Activation, Memory Performance in the Young and Old, and Risk for Sporadic Alzheimer Disease. JAMA Psychiatry 2015; 72:1029-36. [PMID: 26332608 PMCID: PMC5291164 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Human episodic memory performance is linked to the function of specific brain regions, including the hippocampus; declines as a result of increasing age; and is markedly disturbed in Alzheimer disease (AD), an age-associated neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects the hippocampus. Exploring the molecular underpinnings of human episodic memory is key to the understanding of hippocampus-dependent cognitive physiology and pathophysiology. OBJECTIVE To determine whether biologically defined groups of genes are enriched in episodic memory performance across age, memory encoding-related brain activity, and AD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this multicenter collaborative study, which began in August 2008 and is ongoing, gene set enrichment analysis was done by using primary and meta-analysis data from 57 968 participants. The Swiss cohorts consisted of 3043 healthy young adults assessed for episodic memory performance. In a subgroup (n = 1119) of one of these cohorts, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify gene set-dependent differences in brain activity related to episodic memory. The German Study on Aging, Cognition, and Dementia in Primary Care Patients cohort consisted of 763 elderly participants without dementia who were assessed for episodic memory performance. The International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project case-control sample consisted of 54 162 participants (17 008 patients with sporadic AD and 37 154 control participants). Analyses were conducted between January 2014 and June 2015. Gene set enrichment analysis in all samples was done using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Episodic memory performance in the Swiss cohort and German Study on Aging, Cognition, and Dementia in Primary Care Patients cohort was quantified by picture and verbal delayed free recall tasks. In the functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, activation of the hippocampus during encoding of pictures served as the phenotype of interest. In the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project sample, diagnosis of sporadic AD served as the phenotype of interest. RESULTS In the discovery sample, we detected significant enrichment for genes constituting the calcium signaling pathway, especially those related to the elevation of cytosolic calcium (P = 2 × 10-4). This enrichment was replicated in 2 additional samples of healthy young individuals (P = .02 and .04, respectively) and a sample of healthy elderly participants (P = .004). Hippocampal activation (P = 4 × 10-4) and the risk for sporadic AD (P = .01) were also significantly enriched for genes related to the elevation of cytosolic calcium. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE By detecting consistent significant enrichment in independent cohorts of young and elderly participants, this study identified that calcium signaling plays a central role in hippocampus-dependent human memory processes in cognitive health and disease, contributing to the understanding and potential treatment of hippocampus-dependent cognitive pathology.
Collapse
|
12
|
Harrisberger F, Spalek K, Smieskova R, Schmidt A, Coynel D, Milnik A, Fastenrath M, Freytag V, Gschwind L, Walter A, Vogel T, Bendfeldt K, de Quervain DJF, Papassotiropoulos A, Borgwardt S. The association of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and the hippocampal volumes in healthy humans: a joint meta-analysis of published and new data. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 42:267-78. [PMID: 24674929 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2013] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 03/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism (refSNP Cluster Report: rs6265) is a common and functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The gene itself, as well as the SNP rs6265, have been implicated in hippocampal learning and memory. However, imaging genetic studies have produced controversial results about the impact of this SNP on hippocampal volumes in healthy subjects. METHODS We examined the association between the rs6265 polymorphism and hippocampal volume in 643 healthy young subjects using automatic segmentation and subsequently included these data in a meta-analysis based on published studies with 5298 healthy subjects in total. RESULTS We found no significant association between SNP rs6265 and hippocampal volumes in our sample (g=0.05, p=0.58). The meta-analysis revealed a small, albeit significant difference in hippocampal volumes between genotype groups, such that Met-carriers had slightly smaller hippocampal volumes than Val/Val homozygotes (g=0.09, p=0.04), an association that was only evident when manual (g=0.22, p=0.01) but not automatic tracing approaches (g=0.04, p=0.38) were used. Studies using manual tracing showed evidence for publication bias and a significant decrease in effect size over the years with increasing sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS This study does not support the association between SNP rs6265 and hippocampal volume in healthy individuals. The weakly significant effect observed in the meta-analysis is mainly driven by studies with small sample sizes. In contrast, our original data and the meta-analysis of automatically segmented hippocampal volumes, which was based on studies with large samples sizes, revealed no significant genotype effect. Thus, meta-analyses of the association between rs6265 and hippocampal volumes should consider possible biases related to measuring technique and sample size.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- F Harrisberger
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University Hospital Basel, Medical Image Analysis Center, Schanzenstrasse 55, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
| | - K Spalek
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - R Smieskova
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University Hospital Basel, Medical Image Analysis Center, Schanzenstrasse 55, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
| | - A Schmidt
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University Hospital Basel, Medical Image Analysis Center, Schanzenstrasse 55, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
| | - D Coynel
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - A Milnik
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - M Fastenrath
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - V Freytag
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - L Gschwind
- University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - A Walter
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - T Vogel
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - K Bendfeldt
- University Hospital Basel, Medical Image Analysis Center, Schanzenstrasse 55, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
| | - D J-F de Quervain
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
| | - A Papassotiropoulos
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Department Biozentrum, Life Science Training Facility, Klingelbergstrasse 50/70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - S Borgwardt
- University of Basel, Department of Psychiatry (UPK), Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland; University Hospital Basel, Medical Image Analysis Center, Schanzenstrasse 55, 4031 Basel, Switzerland; King's College London, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park 16, SE5 8AF London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Tohme M, Lengelle R, Freytag V. A multiclass multivariate group comparison test: Application to drug safety. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2010; 2010:4711-4. [PMID: 21096014 DOI: 10.1109/iembs.2010.5626384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Hypothesis tests are used to compare and show the efficiency of drugs. However, usual tests do not perform properly whenever the number of variables is greater than, or of the same order of magnitude as, the number of observations. In this paper, we propose an alternative to usual multiclass multivariate group comparison tests such as MANOVA or Wilcoxon tests. We present a pattern recognition approach to compare drugs in high dimensional spaces. Our test is based on the classification probability of error of a classifier. The decision statistics is obtained using the leave one out procedure. The statistics power density function has been experimentally shown independent from the data distribution under the null hypothesis, that allows to determine the threshold, or the p-values, of our test. This test has been applied on clinical data registered to ensure the safety side and tolerability of drugs tested.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mireille Tohme
- Clin Data Management Clinical Research, Rue d'Alsace, zone artisanale, BP 20, 68250 Rouffach Cedex-France.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Labuda D, Labbé C, Langlois S, Lefebvre JF, Freytag V, Moreau C, Sawicki J, Beaulieu P, Pastinen T, Hudson TJ, Sinnett D. Patterns of variation in DNA segments upstream of transcription start sites. Hum Mutat 2007; 28:441-50. [PMID: 17274005 PMCID: PMC2683062 DOI: 10.1002/humu.20463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
It is likely that evolutionary differences among species are driven by sequence changes in regulatory regions. Likewise, polymorphisms in the promoter regions may be responsible for interindividual differences at the level of populations. We present an unbiased survey of genetic variation in 2-kb segments upstream of the transcription start sites of 28 protein-coding genes, characterized in five population groups of different geographic origin. On average, we found 9.1 polymorphisms and 8.8 haplotypes per segment with corresponding nucleotide and haplotype diversities of 0.082% and 58%, respectively. We characterized these segments through different summary statistics, Hardy-Weinberg equilibria fixation index (Fst) estimates, and neutrality tests, as well as by analyzing the distributions of haplotype allelic classes, introduced here to assess the departure from neutrality and examined by coalescent simulations under a simple population model, assuming recombinations or different demography. Our results suggest that genetic diversity in some of these regions could have been shaped by purifying selection and driven by adaptive changes in the other, thus explaining the relatively large variance in the corresponding genetic diversity indices loci. However, some of these effects could be also due to linkage with surrounding sequences, and the neutralists' explanations cannot be ruled out given uncertainty in the underlying demographic histories and the possibility of random effects due to the small size of the studied segments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Damian Labuda
- Centre de Recherche, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|