In the eye of the beholder: Perceptions of neighborhood adversity and psychotic experiences in adolescence

Adolescent psychotic experiences increase risk for schizophrenia and other severe psychopathology in adulthood. Converging evidence implicates urban and adverse neighborhood conditions in the etiology of adolescent psychotic experiences, but the role of young people's personal perceptions of disorder (i.e., physical and social signs of threat) in their neighborhood is unknown. This was examined using data from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 British twins. Participants were interviewed at age 18 about psychotic phenomena and perceptions of disorder in the neighborhood. Multilevel, longitudinal, and genetically sensitive analyses investigated the association between perceptions of neighborhood disorder and adolescent psychotic experiences. Adolescents who perceived higher levels of neighborhood disorder were significantly more likely to have psychotic experiences, even after accounting for objectively/independently measured levels of crime and disorder, neighborhood- and family-level socioeconomic status, family psychiatric history, adolescent substance and mood problems, and childhood psychotic symptoms: odds ratio = 1.62, 95% confidence interval [1.27, 2.05], p < .001. The phenotypic overlap between adolescent psychotic experiences and perceptions of neighborhood disorder was explained by overlapping common environmental influences, rC = .88, 95% confidence interval [0.26, 1.00]. Findings suggest that early psychological interventions to prevent adolescent psychotic experiences should explore the role of young people's (potentially modifiable) perceptions of threatening neighborhood conditions

Association study of the KCNJ3 gene as a susceptibility candidate for schizophrenia in the Chinese population

We recently reported the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of schizophrenia in the Japanese population. In that study, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs3106653) in the KCNJ3 (potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 3) gene located at 2q24.1 showed association with schizophrenia in two independent sample sets. KCNJ3, also termed GIRK1 or Kir3.1, is a member of the G protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ channel (GIRK) group. GIRKs are widely distributed in the brain and play an important role in regulating neural excitability through the activation of various G protein-coupled receptors. In this study, we set out to examine this association using a different population. We first performed a gene-centric association study of the KCNJ3 gene, by genotyping 38 tagSNPs in the Chinese population. We detected nine SNPs that displayed significant association with schizophrenia (lowest P = 0.0016 for rs3106658, Global significance = 0.036). The initial marker SNP (rs3106653) examined in our prior GWAS in the Japanese population also showed nominally significant association in the Chinese population (P = 0.028). Next, we analyzed transcript levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of postmortem brains from patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and from healthy controls, using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. We found significantly lower KCNJ3 expression in postmortem brains from schizophrenic and bipolar patients compared with controls. These data suggest that the KCNJ3 gene is genetically associated with schizophrenia in Asian populations and add further evidence to the “channelopathy theory of psychiatric illnesses”

Candida albicans Infection of Caenorhabditis elegans Induces Antifungal Immune Defenses

Candida albicans yeast cells are found in the intestine of most humans, yet this opportunist can invade host tissues and cause life-threatening infections in susceptible individuals. To better understand the host factors that underlie susceptibility to candidiasis, we developed a new model to study antifungal innate immunity. We demonstrate that the yeast form of C. albicans establishes an intestinal infection in Caenorhabditis elegans, whereas heat-killed yeast are avirulent. Genome-wide, transcription-profiling analysis of C. elegans infected with C. albicans yeast showed that exposure to C. albicans stimulated a rapid host response involving 313 genes (124 upregulated and 189 downregulated, ∼1.6% of the genome) many of which encode antimicrobial, secreted or detoxification proteins. Interestingly, the host genes affected by C. albicans exposure overlapped only to a small extent with the distinct transcriptional responses to the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus, indicating that there is a high degree of immune specificity toward different bacterial species and C. albicans. Furthermore, genes induced by P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were strongly over-represented among the genes downregulated during C. albicans infection, suggesting that in response to fungal pathogens, nematodes selectively repress the transcription of antibacterial immune effectors. A similar phenomenon is well known in the plant immune response, but has not been described previously in metazoans. Finally, 56% of the genes induced by live C. albicans were also upregulated by heat-killed yeast. These data suggest that a large part of the transcriptional response to C. albicans is mediated through “pattern recognition,” an ancient immune surveillance mechanism able to detect conserved microbial molecules (so-called pathogen-associated molecular patterns or PAMPs). This study provides new information on the evolution and regulation of the innate immune response to divergent pathogens and demonstrates that nematodes selectively mount specific antifungal defenses at the expense of antibacterial responses

Form of autosomal dominant spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia is caused by a glycine to alanine substitution in the COL2A1 gene

Form of autosomal dominant spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia is caused by a glycine to alanine substitution in the COL2A1 gene We report a family with an unusual form of autosomal dominant spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia characterized by infantile-onset disproportionate short stature with relative shortening of the spine, thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, scoliosis and premature osteoarthritis of the joints especially of the hips. Radiological findings include mild platyspondyly, vertebral end plate irregularity, irregular femoral necks, and dysplasia of the capital femoral epiphyses with flattening and irregularity present from childhood and mild variable epiphyseal dysplasia elsewhere in the skeleton. Intrafamilial variability is observed in the degree of short stature, severity of spinal and hip involvement and the age of onset of symptoms and complications. We demonstrate that this dysplasia is due to a glycine to alanine substitution in the COL2A1 gene (p.Gly862Ala), thereby expanding the phenotypic spectrum of dysplasias associated with defects in type II collagen

Association between genetic and socioenvironmental risk for schizophrenia during upbringing in a UK longitudinal cohort.

BackgroundAssociations of socioenvironmental features like urbanicity and neighborhood deprivation with psychosis are well-established. An enduring question, however, is whether these associations are causal. Genetic confounding could occur due to downward mobility of individuals at high genetic risk for psychiatric problems into disadvantaged environments.MethodsWe examined correlations of five indices of genetic risk [polygenic risk scores (PRS) for schizophrenia and depression, maternal psychotic symptoms, family psychiatric history, and zygosity-based latent genetic risk] with multiple area-, neighborhood-, and family-level risks during upbringing. Data were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally-representative cohort of 2232 British twins born in 1994-1995 and followed to age 18 (93% retention). Socioenvironmental risks included urbanicity, air pollution, neighborhood deprivation, neighborhood crime, neighborhood disorder, social cohesion, residential mobility, family poverty, and a cumulative environmental risk scale. At age 18, participants were privately interviewed about psychotic experiences.ResultsHigher genetic risk on all indices was associated with riskier environments during upbringing. For example, participants with higher schizophrenia PRS (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.06-1.33), depression PRS (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.08-1.34), family history (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.11-1.40), and latent genetic risk (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.07-1.38) had accumulated more socioenvironmental risks for schizophrenia by age 18. However, associations between socioenvironmental risks and psychotic experiences mostly remained significant after covariate adjustment for genetic risk.ConclusionGenetic risk is correlated with socioenvironmental risk for schizophrenia during upbringing, but the associations between socioenvironmental risk and adolescent psychotic experiences appear, at present, to exist above and beyond this gene-environment correlation

MYCN haploinsufficiency is associated with reduced brain size and intestinal atresias in Feingold syndrome.

Contains fulltext : 48734.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Feingold syndrome is characterized by variable combinations of esophageal and duodenal atresias, microcephaly, learning disability, syndactyly and cardiac defect. We show here that heterozygous mutations in the gene MYCN are present in Feingold syndrome. All mutations are predicted to disrupt both the full-length protein and a new shortened MYCN isoform, suggesting that multiple aspects of early embryogenesis and postnatal brain growth in humans are tightly regulated by MYCN dosage