Behavioural and functional evidence revealing the role of RBFOX1 variation in multiple psychiatric disorders and traits.

Common variation in the gene encoding the neuron-specific RNA splicing factor RNA Binding Fox-1 Homolog 1 (RBFOX1) has been identified as a risk factor for several psychiatric conditions, and rare genetic variants have been found causal for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we explored the genetic landscape of RBFOX1 more deeply, integrating evidence from existing and new human studies as well as studies in Rbfox1 knockout mice. Mining existing data from large-scale studies of human common genetic variants, we confirmed gene-based and genome-wide association of RBFOX1 with risk tolerance, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Data on six mental disorders revealed copy number losses and gains to be more frequent in ASD cases than in controls. Consistently, RBFOX1 expression appeared decreased in post-mortem frontal and temporal cortices of individuals with ASD and prefrontal cortex of individuals with schizophrenia. Brain-functional MRI studies demonstrated that carriers of a common RBFOX1 variant, rs6500744, displayed increased neural reactivity to emotional stimuli, reduced prefrontal processing during cognitive control, and enhanced fear expression after fear conditioning, going along with increased avoidance behaviour. Investigating Rbfox1 neuron-specific knockout mice allowed us to further specify the role of this gene in behaviour. The model was characterised by pronounced hyperactivity, stereotyped behaviour, impairments in fear acquisition and extinction, reduced social interest, and lack of aggression; it provides excellent construct and face validity as an animal model of ASD. In conclusion, convergent translational evidence shows that common variants in RBFOX1 are associated with a broad spectrum of psychiatric traits and disorders, while rare genetic variation seems to expose to early-onset neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders with and without developmental delay like ASD, in particular. Studying the pleiotropic nature of RBFOX1 can profoundly enhance our understanding of mental disorder vulnerability.

ADHD-associated PARK2 copy number variants: A pilot study on gene expression and effects of supplementary deprivation in patient-derived cell lines.

Recent studies show an association of Parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (PARK2) copy number variations (CNVs) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of our pilot study to investigate gene expression associated with PARK2 CNVs in human-derived cellular models. We investigated gene expression in fibroblasts, hiPSC and dopaminergic neurons (DNs) of ADHD PARK2 deletion and duplication carriers by qRT PCR compared with healthy and ADHD cell lines without PARK2 CNVs. The selected 10 genes of interest were associated with oxidative stress response (TP53, NQO1, and NFE2L2), ubiquitin pathway (UBE3A, UBB, UBC, and ATXN3) and with a function in mitochondrial quality control (PINK1, MFN2, and ATG5). Additionally, an exploratory RNA bulk sequencing analysis in DNs was conducted. Nutrient deprivation as a supplementary deprivation stress paradigm was used to enhance potential genotype effects. At baseline, in fibroblasts, hiPSC, and DNs, there was no significant difference in gene expression after correction for multiple testing. After nutrient deprivation in fibroblasts NAD(P)H-quinone-dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) expression was significantly increased in PARK2 CNV carriers. In a multivariate analysis, ubiquitin C (UBC) was significantly upregulated in fibroblasts of PARK2 CNV carriers. RNA sequencing analysis of DNs showed the strongest significant differential regulation in Neurontin (NNAT) at baseline and after nutrient deprivation. Our preliminary results suggest differential gene expression in pathways associated with oxidative stress, ubiquitine-proteasome, immunity, inflammation, cell growth, and differentiation, excitation/inhibition modulation, and energy metabolism in PARK2 CNV carriers compared to wildtype healthy controls and ADHD patients.

Genetics of ADHD: What Should the Clinician Know?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows high heritability in formal genetic studies. In our review article, we provide an overview on common and rare genetic risk variants for ADHD and their link to clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: The formal heritability of ADHD is about 80% and therefore higher than most other psychiatric diseases. However, recent studies estimate the proportion of heritability based on singlenucleotide variants (SNPs) at 22%. It is a matter of debate which genetic mechanisms explain this huge difference. While frequent variants in first mega-analyses of genome-wideassociation study data containing several thousand patients give the first genome-wide results, explaining only little variance, the methodologically more difficult analyses of rare variants are still in their infancy. Some rare genetic syndromes show higher prevalence for ADHD indicating a potential role for a small number of patients. In contrast, polygenic risk scores (PRS) could potentially be applied to every patient. We give an overview how PRS explain different behavioral phenotypes in ADHD and how they could be used for diagnosis and therapy prediction. Knowledge about a patient's genetic makeup is not yet mandatory for ADHD therapy or diagnosis. PRS however have been introduced successfully in other areas of clinical medicine, and their application in psychiatry will begin within the next years. In order to ensure competent advice for patients, knowledge of the current state of research is useful forpsychiatrists.

Selective decline of neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor genes within CA1 pyramidal neurons and hippocampus proper: Correlation with cognitive performance and neuropathology in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, a major component of the medial temporal lobe memory circuit, are selectively vulnerable during the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The cellular mechanism(s) underlying degeneration of these neurons and the relationship to cognitive performance remains largely undefined. Here, we profiled neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor gene expression within microdissected CA1 neurons along with regional hippocampal dissections from subjects who died with a clinical diagnosis of no cognitive impairment (NCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or AD using laser capture microdissection (LCM), custom-designed microarray analysis, and qPCR of CA1 subregional dissections. Gene expression levels were correlated with cognitive test scores and AD neuropathology criteria. We found a significant downregulation of several neurotrophin genes (e.g., Gdnf, Ngfb, and Ntf4) in CA1 pyramidal neurons in MCI compared to NCI and AD subjects. In addition, the neurotrophin receptor transcripts TrkB and TrkC were decreased in MCI and AD compared to NCI. Regional hippocampal dissections also revealed select neurotrophic gene dysfunction providing evidence for vulnerability within the hippocampus proper during the progression of dementia. Downregulation of several neurotrophins of the NGF family and cognate neurotrophin receptor (TrkA, TrkB, and TrkC) genes correlated with antemortem cognitive measures including the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), a composite global cognitive score (GCS), and Episodic, Semantic, and Working Memory, Perceptual Speed, and Visuospatial domains. Significant correlations were found between select neurotrophic expression downregulation and neuritic plaques (NPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), but not diffuse plaques (DPs). These data suggest that dysfunction of neurotrophin signaling complexes have profound negative sequelae within vulnerable hippocampal cell types, which play a role in mnemonic and executive dysfunction during the progression of AD.

Update on genetics of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: current status 2023.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows consistently high heritability in genetic research. In this review article, we give an overview of the analysis of common and rare variants and some insight into current genetic methodology and their link to clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: The heritability of about 80% is also high in comparison to other psychiatric diseases. However, recent studies estimate the proportion of heritability based on single nucleotide variants at 22%. The hidden heritability is an ongoing question in ADHD genetics. Common variants derived from mega genome-wide association analyses (GWAS) and subsequent meta-analyses usually display small effect sizes and explain only a small fraction of phenotypic variance. Rare variants, on the contrary, not only display large effect sizes but also rather explain, due to their rareness, a small fraction on phenotypic variance. Applying polygenic risk score (PRS) analysis is an improved approach of combining effect sizes of many common variants with clinically relevant measures in ADHD. SUMMARY: We provide a concise overview on how genetic analysis, with a focus on GWAS and PRS, can help explain different behavioural phenotypes in ADHD and how they can be used for diagnosis and therapy prediction. Increased sample sizes of GWAS, meta-analyses and use of PRS is increasingly informative and sets the course for a new era in genetics of ADHD.

Is genetic risk of ADHD mediated via dopaminergic mechanism? A study of functional connectivity in ADHD and pharmacologically challenged healthy volunteers with a genetic risk profile.

Recent GWAS allow us to calculate polygenic risk scores for ADHD. At the imaging level, resting-state fMRI analyses have given us valuable insights into changes in connectivity patterns in ADHD patients. However, no study has yet attempted to combine these two different levels of investigation. For this endeavor, we used a dopaminergic challenge fMRI study (L-DOPA) in healthy participants who were genotyped for their ADHD, MDD, schizophrenia, and body height polygenic risk score (PRS) and compared results with a study comparing ADHD patients and healthy controls. Our objective was to evaluate how L-DOPA-induced changes of reward-system-related FC are dependent on the individual polygenic risk score. FMRI imaging was used to evaluate resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of targeted subcortical structures in 27 ADHD patients and matched controls. In a second study, we evaluated the effect of ADHD and non-ADHD PRS in a L-DOPA-based pharmaco-fMRI-challenge in 34 healthy volunteers. The functional connectivity between the putamen and parietal lobe was decreased in ADHD patients. In healthy volunteers, the FC between putamen and parietal lobe was lower in ADHD high genetic risk participants. This direction of connectivity was reversed during L-DOPA challenge. Further findings are described for other dopaminergic subcortical structures. The FC between the putamen and the attention network showed the most consistent change in patients as well as in high-risk participants. Our results suggest that FC of the dorsal attention network is altered in adult ADHD as well as in healthy controls with higher genetic risk.

Investigating the Association Between Polygenic Risk Scores for Alzheimer's Disease With Cognitive Performance and Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Healthy Adults.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is present many years before the onset of clinical symptoms. AD dementia cannot be treated. Timely and early detection of people at risk of developing AD is key for primary and secondary prevention. Moreover, understanding the underlying pathology that is present in the earliest stages of AD, and the genetic predisposition to that might contribute to the development of targeted disease-modifying treatments. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to explore whether genetic disposition to AD in asymptomatic individuals is associated with altered intrinsic functional connectivity as well as cognitive performance on neuropsychological tests. Methods: We examined 136 cognitively healthy adults (old group: mean age = 69.32, SD = 4.23; young group: mean age = 31.34, SD = 13.12). All participants had undergone resting-state functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI), DNA genotyping to ascertain polygenic risk scores (PRS), and neuropsychological testing for global cognition, working memory, verbal fluency, and executive functions. Results: Two-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that higher PRS was significantly associated with lower scores in working memory tasks [Letter Number Span: ΔR 2 = 0.077 (p < 0.05); Spatial Span: ΔR 2 = 0.072 (p < 0.05)] in older adults (>60 years). PRS did not show significant modulations of the intrinsic functional connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) with other regions of interest in the brain that are affected in AD. Conclusion: Allele polymorphisms may modify the effect of other AD risk factors. This potential modulation warrants further investigations, particularly in cognitively healthy adults.

Association of polygenic risk scores and hair cortisol with mental health trajectories during COVID lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor with inter-individually differing influences on mental health trajectories. Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) for psychiatric phenotypes are associated with individual mental health predispositions. Elevated hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and high PRSs are related to negative mental health outcomes. We analyzed whether PRSs and HCC are related to different mental health trajectories during the first COVID lockdown in Germany. Among 523 participants selected from the longitudinal resilience assessment study (LORA), we previously reported three subgroups (acute dysfunction, delayed dysfunction, resilient) based on weekly mental health (GHQ-28) assessment during COVID lockdown. DNA from blood was collected at the baseline of the original LORA study (n = 364) and used to calculate the PRSs of 12 different psychopathological phenotypes. An explorative bifactor model with Schmid-Leiman transformation was calculated to extract a general genetic factor for psychiatric disorders. Hair samples were collected quarterly prior to the pandemic for determining HCC (n = 192). Bivariate logistic regressions were performed to test the associations of HCC and the PRS factors with the reported trajectories. The bifactor model revealed 1 general factor and 4 sub-factors. Results indicate a significant association between increased values on the general risk factor and the allocation to the acute dysfunction class. The same was found for elevated HCC and the exploratorily tested sub-factor "childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders". Genetic risk and long-term cortisol secretion as a potential indicator of stress, indicated by PRSs and HCC, respectively, predicted different mental health trajectories. Results indicate a potential for future studies on risk prediction.

Considering the Microbiome in Stress-Related and Neurodevelopmental Trajectories to Schizophrenia.

Early life adversity and prenatal stress are consistently associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia, although the exact pathogenic mechanisms linking the exposures with the disease remain elusive. Our previous view of the HPA stress axis as an elegant but simple negative feedback loop, orchestrating adaptation to stressors among the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands, needs to be updated. Research in the last two decades shows that important bidirectional signaling between the HPA axis and intestinal mucosa modulates brain function and neurochemistry, including effects on glucocorticoid hormones and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The intestinal microbiome in earliest life, which is seeded by the vaginal microbiome during delivery, programs the development of the HPA axis in a critical developmental window, determining stress sensitivity and HPA function as well as immune system development. The crosstalk between the HPA and the Microbiome Gut Brain Axis (MGBA) is particularly high in the hippocampus, the most consistently disrupted neural region in persons with schizophrenia. Animal models suggest that the MGBA remains influential on behavior and physiology across developmental stages, including the perinatal window, early childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Understanding the role of the microbiome on critical risk related stressors may enhance or transform of understanding of the origins of schizophrenia and offer new approaches to increase resilience against stress effects for preventing and treating schizophrenia.

Impulsivity and Venturesomeness in an Adult ADHD Sample: Relation to Personality, Comorbidity, and Polygenic Risk.

While impulsivity is a basic feature of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), no study explored the effect of different components of the Impulsiveness (Imp) and Venturesomeness (Vent) scale (IV7) on psychiatric comorbidities and an ADHD polygenic risk score (PRS). We used the IV7 self-report scale in an adult ADHD sample of 903 patients, 70% suffering from additional comorbid disorders, and in a subsample of 435 genotyped patients. Venturesomeness, unlike immediate Impulsivity, is not specific to ADHD. We consequently analyzed the influence of Imp and Vent also in the context of a PRS on psychiatric comorbidities of ADHD. Vent shows a distinctly different distribution of comorbidities, e.g., less anxiety and depression. PRS showed no effect on different ADHD comorbidities, but correlated with childhood hyperactivity. In a complementary analysis using principal component analysis with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition ADHD criteria, revised NEO Personality Inventory, Imp, Vent, and PRS, we identified three ADHD subtypes. These are an impulsive-neurotic type, an adventurous-hyperactive type with a stronger genetic component, and an anxious-inattentive type. Our study thus suggests the importance of adventurousness and the differential consideration of impulsivity in ADHD. The genetic risk is distributed differently between these subtypes, which underlines the importance of clinically motivated subtyping. Impulsivity subtyping might give insights into the organization of comorbid disorders in ADHD and different genetic background.

Risk Stratification for Bipolar Disorder Using Polygenic Risk Scores Among Young High-Risk Adults.

Objective: Identifying high-risk groups with an increased genetic liability for bipolar disorder (BD) will provide insights into the etiology of BD and contribute to early detection of BD. We used the BD polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from BD genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to explore how such genetic risk manifests in young, high-risk adults. We postulated that BD-PRS would be associated with risk factors for BD. Methods: A final sample of 185 young, high-risk German adults (aged 18-35 years) were grouped into three risk groups and compared to a healthy control group (n = 1,100). The risk groups comprised 117 cases with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 45 with major depressive disorder (MDD), and 23 help-seeking adults with early recognition symptoms [ER: positive family history for BD, (sub)threshold affective symptomatology and/or mood swings, sleeping disorder]. BD-PRS was computed for each participant. Logistic regression models (controlling for sex, age, and the first five ancestry principal components) were used to assess associations of BD-PRS and the high-risk phenotypes. Results: We observed an association between BD-PRS and combined risk group status (OR = 1.48, p < 0.001), ADHD diagnosis (OR = 1.32, p = 0.009), MDD diagnosis (OR = 1.96, p < 0.001), and ER group status (OR = 1.7, p = 0.025; not significant after correction for multiple testing) compared to healthy controls. Conclusions: In the present study, increased genetic risk for BD was a significant predictor for MDD and ADHD status, but not for ER. These findings support an underlying shared risk for both MDD and BD as well as ADHD and BD. Improving our understanding of the underlying genetic architecture of these phenotypes may aid in early identification and risk stratification.

Rapamycin blocks the neuroprotective effects of sex steroids in the adult birdsong system.

In adult songbirds, the telencephalic song nucleus HVC and its efferent target RA undergo pronounced seasonal changes in morphology. In breeding birds, there are increases in HVC volume and total neuron number, and RA neuronal soma area compared to nonbreeding birds. At the end of breeding, HVC neurons die through caspase-dependent apoptosis and thus, RA neuron size decreases. Changes in HVC and RA are driven by seasonal changes in circulating testosterone (T) levels. Infusing T, or its metabolites 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 17 ß-estradiol (E2), intracerebrally into HVC (but not RA) protects HVC neurons from death, and RA neuron size, in nonbreeding birds. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt (a serine/threonine kinase)-mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is a point of convergence for neuroprotective effects of sex steroids and other trophic factors. We asked if mTOR activation is necessary for the protective effect of hormones in HVC and RA of adult male Gambel's white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii). We transferred sparrows from breeding to nonbreeding hormonal and photoperiod conditions to induce regression of HVC neurons by cell death and decrease of RA neuron size. We infused either DHT + E2, DHT + E2 plus the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, or vehicle alone in HVC. Infusion of DHT + E2 protected both HVC and RA neurons. Coinfusion of rapamycin with DHT + E2, however, blocked the protective effect of hormones on HVC volume and neuron number, and RA neuron size. These results suggest that activation of mTOR is an essential downstream step in the neuroprotective cascade initiated by sex steroid hormones in the forebrain.

Traumatic experiences and cognitive profiles of schizophrenia cases influenced by the BDNF Val66met polymorphism.

The association of early trauma exposure with current cognition was examined in a research series of 56 schizophrenia cases with respect to the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (rs6265, Val66Val, Val66Met, Met66Met), as met allele carriers have reduced neurotrophic activity. The Perceptual Organization Index had a significant negative correlation with trauma exposures only in met carriers, including early physical abuse, general trauma after age 18 years, and physical abuse. Within the Val66Val subgroup, there were no significant correlations between WAIS indices and traumatic experiences.

Rare missense coding variants in oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in schizophrenia cases are associated with early trauma exposure, cognition and emotional processing.

BACKGROUND: Oxytocin is a peptide hormone that influences the integration of social cognition with behavior and affect regulation. Oxytocin also prominently directs the transition of neuronal GABA neurotransmission from excitatory to inhibitory after birth. The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) is linked to schizophrenia, a heterogeneous syndrome. Relationships of OXTR polymorphisms with specific clinical features could aid in evaluating any role of oxytocin in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. METHOD: Schizophrenia cases with rare missense coding OXTR single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified from a well-characterized sample of cases and controls who were assessed for symptoms, cognition and early life trauma. RESULTS: Five of 48 cases showed rare OXTR variants. Compared to the other cases they had less severe negative symptoms (deficits in emotional expression and motivation) and less severe general psychopathology scores (depression and anxiety). They demonstrated lower nonverbal (performance) than verbal intelligence due to deficient perceptual organization and slow processing speed. They also reported greater early trauma exposure (physical and sexual abuse and emotional trauma). CONCLUSION: Cases carrying rare OXTR SNVs had less negative and affective symptoms than other cases, but similar psychotic symptoms, along with specific cognitive deficits. The clinical characterization of these cases occurred in association with environmental exposure to early trauma, especially sexual abuse, which may have influenced the expression of schizophrenia in subjects harboring specific SNVs in the OXTR.

The Emerging Role for Zinc in Depression and Psychosis.

Zinc participation is essential for all physiological systems, including neural functioning, where it participates in a myriad of cellular processes. Converging clinical, molecular, and genetic discoveries illuminate key roles for zinc homeostasis in association with clinical depression and psychosis which are not yet well appreciated at the clinical interface. Intracellular deficiency may arise from low circulating zinc levels due to dietary insufficiency, or impaired absorption from aging or medical conditions, including alcoholism. A host of medications commonly administered to psychiatric patients, including anticonvulsants, oral medications for diabetes, hormones, antacids, anti-inflammatories and others also impact zinc absorption. Furthermore, inefficient genetic variants in zinc transporter molecules that transport the ion across cellular membranes impede its action even when circulating zinc concentrations is in the normal range. Well powered clinical studies have shown beneficial effects of supplemental zinc in depression and it important to pursue research using zinc as a potential therapeutic option for psychosis as well. Meta-analyses support the adjunctive use of zinc in major depression and a single study now supports zinc for psychotic symptoms. This manuscript reviews the biochemistry and bench top evidence on putative molecular mechanisms of zinc as a psychiatric treatment.

Sex-Specific Differences in Oxytocin Receptor Expression and Function for Parental Behavior.

Parental care is among the most profound behavior expressed by humans and other animals. Despite intense interest in understanding the biological basis of parental behaviors, it remains unknown how much of parenting is encoded by the genome and which abilities instead are learned or can be refined by experience. One critical factor at the intersection between innate behaviors and experience-dependent learning is oxytocin, a neurohormone important for maternal physiology and neuroplasticity. Oxytocin acts throughout the body and brain to promote prosocial and maternal behaviors and modulates synaptic transmission to affect neural circuit dynamics. Recently we developed specific antibodies to mouse oxytocin receptors, found that oxytocin receptors are left lateralized in female auditory cortex, and examined how oxytocin enables maternal behavior by sensitizing the cortex to infant distress sounds. In this study we compare oxytocin receptor expression and function in male and female mice. Receptor expression is higher in adult female left auditory cortex than in right auditory cortex or males. Developmental profiles and mRNA expression were comparable between males and females. Behaviorally, male and female mice began expressing parental behavior similarly after cohousing with experienced females; however, oxytocin enhanced parental behavior onset in females but not males. This suggests that left lateralization of oxytocin receptor expression in females provides a mechanism for accelerating maternal behavior onset, although male mice can also effectively co-parent after experience with infants. The sex-specific pattern of oxytocin receptor expression might genetically predispose female cortex to respond to infant cues, which both males and females can also rapidly learn.

Phenotypically distinct subtypes of psychosis accompany novel or rare variants in four different signaling genes.

BACKGROUND: Rare gene variants are important sources of schizophrenia vulnerability that likely interact with polygenic susceptibility loci. This study examined if novel or rare missense coding variants in any of four different signaling genes in sporadic schizophrenia cases were associated with clinical phenotypes in an exceptionally well-characterized sample. METHOD: Structured interviews, cognition, symptoms and life course features were assessed in 48 ethnically-diverse cases with psychosis who underwent targeted exome sequencing of PTPRG (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Receptor Type G), SLC39A13 (Solute Carrier Family 39 (Zinc Transporter) Member 13), TGM5 (transglutaminase 5) and ARMS/KIDINS220 (Ankyrin repeat-rich membrane spanning protein or Kinase D-Interacting Substrate of 220kDa). Cases harboring rare missense coding polymorphisms or novel mutations in one or more of these genes were compared to other cases not carrying any rare missense coding polymorphisms or novel mutations in these genes and healthy controls. FINDINGS: Fifteen of 48 cases (31.25%) carried rare or novel missense coding variants in one or more of these genes. The subgroups significantly differed in important features, including specific working memory deficits for PTPRG (n=5); severe negative symptoms, global cognitive deficits and poor educational attainment, suggesting a developmental disorder, for SLC39A13 (n=4); slow processing speed, childhood attention deficit disorder and milder symptoms for TGM5 (n=4); and global cognitive deficits with good educational attainment suggesting neurodegeneration for ARMS/KIDINS220 (n=5). Case vignettes are included in the appendix. INTERPRETATION: Genes prone to missense coding polymorphisms and/or mutations in sporadic cases may highlight influential genes for psychosis and illuminate heterogeneous pathways to schizophrenia. Ethnicity appears less important at the level of genetic variability. The sequence variations that potentially alter the function of specific genes or their signaling partners may contribute to particular subtypes of psychosis. This approach may be applicable to other complex disorders.

Meta-analysis and association of two common polymorphisms of the human oxytocin receptor gene in autism spectrum disorder.

Neuropeptides such as oxytocin (OXT) are known facilitators of social behavior across species. Variants of the OXT receptor gene (OXTR) have been tested for association with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across manifold ethnicities, yielding both positive and negative findings. A recent meta-analysis, comprising 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), has corroborated the implication of OXTR in the etiology of ASD. Here, we genotyped and tested two additional variants (rs237889 and rs237897) for association with ASD in two German predominantly high-functioning ASD samples. We found nominal over-transmission (OR = 1.48, CI95 = 1.06-2.08, P = 0.022) for the minor A allele of variant rs237889G>A in sample 1 (N = 135 complete parent-offspring trios, 29 parent child duos), but not in sample 2 (362 trios, 69 duos). Still, in a meta-analysis comprising four different studies including the two unreported German data sets (N = 542 families), this finding was confirmed (OR = 1.12; CI95 = 1.01-1.24, random effects P = 0.012). In addition, carriers of the minor risk allele rs237889-A showed significantly increased severity scores, as assessed through the autism diagnostic interview - revised (ADI-R), with highly significant increases in social interaction deficits. Our results corroborate the implication of common OXTR variants in the etiology of ASD. There is a need for functional studies to delineate the neurobiological implications of this and other association findings. (172/250). Autism Res 2016, 9: 1036-1045. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prefrontal neuronal integrity predicts symptoms and cognition in schizophrenia and is sensitive to genetic heterogeneity.

Schizophrenia is a genetically complex syndrome with substantial inter-subject variability in multiple domains. Person-specific measures to resolve its heterogeneity could focus on the variability in prefrontal integrity, which this study indexed as relative rostralization within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Twenty-two schizophrenia cases and 11 controls underwent rigorous diagnostic procedures, symptom assessments (PANSS, Deficit Syndrome Scale) and intelligence testing. All underwent multivoxel MRSI at 3T to measure concentrations of the neuronal-specific biomarker N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in all of the voxels of the ACC. The concentrations of NAA were separately calculated and then compared across the rostral and caudal subregions to generate a rostralization ratio, which was examined with respect to the study measures and to which cases carried a missense coding polymorphism in PTPRG, SCL39A13, TGM5, NTRK1 or ARMS/KIDINS220. Rostralization significantly differed between cases and controls (χ(2)=18.40, p<.0001). In cases, it predicted verbal intelligence (r=.469, p=.043) and trait negative symptoms (diminished emotional range (r=-.624, p=.010); curbed interests, r=-.558, p=.025). Rostralization was similar to controls for missense coding variants in TGM5 and was significantly greater than controls for the PTPRG variant carrier. This is the first study examining the utility of MRS metrics in describing pathological features at both group and person-specific levels. Rostralization predicted core illness features and differed based on which signaling genes were disrupted. While future studies in larger populations are needed, ACC rostralization appears to be a promising measure to reduce the heterogeneity of schizophrenia for genetic research and selecting cases for treatment studies.

Early Life Stress Effects on Glucocorticoid-BDNF Interplay in the Hippocampus.

Early life stress (ELS) is implicated in the etiology of multiple psychiatric disorders. Important biological effects of ELS are manifested in stress-susceptible regions of the hippocampus and are partially mediated by long-term effects on glucocorticoid (GC) and/or neurotrophin signaling pathways. GC-signaling mediates the regulation of stress response to maintain homeostasis, while neurotrophin signaling plays a key role in neuronal outgrowth and is crucial for axonal guidance and synaptic integrity. The neurotrophin and GC-signaling pathways co-exist throughout the central nervous system (CNS), particularly in the hippocampus, which has high expression levels of glucocorticoid-receptors (GR) and mineralocorticoid-receptors (MR) as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor, tropomyosin-related kinase receptor B (TrkB). This review addresses the effects of ELS paradigms on GC- and BDNF-dependent mechanisms and their crosstalk in the hippocampus, including potential implications for the pathogenesis of common stress-related disorders.