Helmholtz Gemeinschaft

Search
Browse
Statistics
Feeds

Association of common polymorphisms in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha4 subunit gene with an electrophysiological endophenotype in a large population-based sample

[thumbnail of 15647oa.pdf] PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
685kB

Item Type:Article
Title:Association of common polymorphisms in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha4 subunit gene with an electrophysiological endophenotype in a large population-based sample
Creators Name:Mobascher, A., Diaz-Lacava, A., Wagner, M., Gallinat, J., Wienker, T.F., Drichel, D., Becker, T., Steffens, M., Dahmen, N., Gruender, G., Thuerauf, N., Kiefer, F., Kornhuber, J., Toliat, M.R., Thiele, H., Nuernberg, P., Steinlein, O. and Winterer, G.
Abstract:Variation in genes coding for nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits affect cognitive processes and may contribute to the genetic architecture of neuropsychiatric disorders. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CHRNA4 gene that codes for the alpha4 subunit of alpha4/beta2-containing receptors have previously been implicated in aspects of (mostly visual) attention and smoking-related behavioral measures. Here we investigated the effects of six synonymous but functional CHRNA4 exon 5 SNPs on the N100 event-related potential (ERP), an electrophysiological endophenotype elicited by a standard auditory oddball. A total of N = 1,705 subjects randomly selected from the general population were studied with electroencephalography (EEG) as part of the German Multicenter Study on nicotine addiction. Two of the six variants, rs1044396 and neighboring rs1044397, were significantly associated with N100 amplitude. This effect was pronounced in females where we also observed an effect on reaction time. Sequencing of the complete exon 5 region in the population sample excluded the existence of additional/functional variants that may be responsible for the observed effects. This is the first large-scale population-based study investigation the effects of CHRNA4 SNPs on brain activity measures related to stimulus processing and attention. Our results provide further evidence that common synonymous CHRNA4 exon 5 SNPs affect cognitive processes and suggest that they also play a role in the auditory system. As N100 amplitude reduction is considered a schizophrenia-related endophenotype the SNPs studied here may also be associated with schizophrenia outcome measures.
Keywords:Electrophysiological Phenomena, Endophenotypes, Germany, Neuroimaging, Nicotinic Receptors, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, Smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder
Source:PLoS ONE
ISSN:1932-6203
Publisher:Public Library of Science
Volume:11
Number:4
Page Range:e0152984
Date:7 April 2016
Official Publication:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152984
PubMed:View item in PubMed

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Open Access
MDC Library