Andreas Reif

..Although rodent data suggest that the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-I) modifies diverse behaviors including aggression, this has not been translated to human studies...

..031). Additional SNPs showed association with personality scores (p=0.008-0.048). Converging lines of evidence implicate genetic variance in the promoter region of DIRAS2 in the etiology of ADHD and co-morbid impulsive disorders...

..Our fNIRS data extend previous studies suggesting disturbed prefrontal functioning in schizophrenia and suggest that genetic variation of NOS1 has a role in cognitive dysfunction, probably by mediating glutamatergic tone...

..In line with this, we have previously shown that a functional promoter polymorphism of NOS1, termed NOS1 ex1f-VNTR, is associated with impulsivity-related traits and related disorders...

..Further replication studies, however, are necessary to validate the apparent complexity of G x E interactions in disorders of human personality...

..These findings implicate alterations of 5-HT synthesis in emotion regulation and confirm TPH2 as a susceptibility and/or modifier gene of affective spectrum disorders...

..The formation of the serotonergic system thus seems to be a preserved expressional pattern due to intrinsic cellular programs which occurs also in the absence of its key molecule, namely 5-HT...

..The findings confirm the exclusive specificity of Tph2 in brain 5-HT synthesis and suggest that Tph2-synthesized 5-HT is not required for serotonergic neuron formation...

..We demonstrate an association of DGKH with BPD, UPD, and aADHD by applying a two-stage design. These disorders share the feature of mood instability, so that this phenotype might be associated with genetic variation in DGKH...

..Together, these results emphasize the important role of the different NOS isoforms with respect to adult neurogenesis...

....

..FEV therefore might not account for the genetic risk towards depression or bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the specificity of FEV for the serotonergic system should be reconsidered...

..In a recent association study in depression, which is highly comorbid with panic disorder, GAD1 risk allele associations were restricted to females...

..Here we asked whether cytokines, which have well-described roles in inflammatory pain, are downstream targets of NO in inflammatory pain and which of the isoforms of NOS are involved in this process...

..However, fNIRS can be considered as a valid, easy manageable, low cost and rapid tool for measuring (diminished) prefrontal cortex functions...

..To further investigate the contribution of AHI1 to the susceptibility of schizophrenia, we evaluated the effect of AHI1 variation on the vulnerability to psychosis in two samples from Spain and Germany...

..Similar phenomena might also occur in other risk genes for both BPD and SCZ, providing a molecular basis for the genetic overlap of both entities...

..The prevalence and consequences of co-morbid axis-I and axis-II disorders as well as personality traits were examined in a large cohort of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AADHD) at a tertiary referral center...

....

..This suggests a potential compensatory mechanism, with task-related brain regions being more active in short allele carriers to compensate for reduced NOS1 expression...

..We propose that antibody-mediated amphiphysin deficiency may account for anxiety behavior in stiff person syndrome via presynaptic dysregulation of GABAergic pathways...

..Most patients have high-titer antibodies against glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) 65. The pathogenic role of these autoantibodies is unclear...

..Overall, our data indicate that this spatial learning task will be useful to characterize spatial memory in various genetic or pharmacological mouse models...

..Our results thus suggest that the NOS-III genotype may convey a modest genetic risk to develop bipolar disorder. This finding should be further clarified by the use of within-family designs and in samples of other ethnicity...

..Future studies are warranted to replicate the present finding in independent samples, preferably in a longitudinal design...

....

..Specifically, Met/Met carriers respond more sensitively to unpleasant stimuli, as compared with Val/Val carriers. We did not find evidence that life stress moderates the effect of the COMT genotype on emotional stimuli processing...

..These findings indicate complex interactions between genetic variation of the serotonergic circuitry and environmental factors arguing against simplistic, mono-causal explanations of violent behavior...

..g., CDH13, ASTN2) and regulators of synaptic plasticity (e.g., CTNNA2, KALRN) despite the complex multifactorial etiologies of adult ADHD and addiction vulnerability...

..Nevertheless, as all those conditions are comorbid, PPP2R2C might reflect a common underlying neurobiological risk factor...

..They furthermore tie results from clinical investigations of disorders impacting on the dopamine system to genetic variations known to be at-risk genotypes...

..The present findings may eventually aid in improving primary and secondary prevention by sharpening the risk profiles of anxiety-prone individuals...

..In conclusion, we suggest that in females homocysteinemia is an unspecific risk factor for organic brain disorders like dementia, and possibly depression, but not for schizophrenia...

..These results challenge the comparability of not sufficiently standardized tests of anxiety-like behavior and emphasize the need for controlling environmental variables in behavioral phenotyping...

..As demonstrated, ex1f-VNTR interacted with the apolipoprotein E ε4 risk allele (OR in the presence of both risk alleles 3.63; 95% CI: 1.45-9.12). These findings provide further evidence for an association of NOS1 with AD...

..In conclusion, several lines of evidence suggest that reduced AN may contribute to the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenic disorders, whereas it does not seem to be a critical risk factor for affective disorders...

..These results support the proposed role of nNOS in sensitization of DRG neurones, and might indicate that CGRP is involved in this process...

..Impairment of prefrontal control with consecutive failure of inhibitory processes might underlie association findings reported previously. Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc...

..However, epigenetic mechanisms might obfuscate the genetic association, calling for ascertainment in larger samples as well as assessment of the MAOA promoter methylation status therein...

..We conclude that more extensive study of NoGo anteriorisation as a potential endophenotype of 22q11-DS patients at risk for 22q11-associated psychiatric conditions is warranted...

..The results of this first study of TPH2 in panic disorder argue against an importance of allelic variation of TPH2 in the pathogenesis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia...

..However, the association of eCB system with emotional-motivational reactivity is complex and bidirectional due to upcoming compensatory processes...

....

..On VPA discontinuation, all symptoms vanished and EEG normalized. We thus suggest that direct VPA-induced encephalopathy in the absence of ammonemia does exist, in this case probably facilitated by psychotropic polypharmacy...

....

..Interestingly, schizophrenic patients had higher amplitudes in the neutral condition than did healthy controls. This effect was more pronounced in the paranoid subgroup of patients...

..Our findings further support the notion that allelic variation of MAOA activity contributes modestly to the balance of hyper- (impulsive-aggressive) and hyporeactive (anxious-depressive) traits...

..These results indicate that COMT genotype exerts a strong impact on prefrontal functioning and executive control in schizophrenia spectrum disorders...

..Possible implications of this rare chromosomal abnormality with regards to psychiatric disorders are discussed, with emphasis on recent evidence suggesting chromosome 15q13-15 as a susceptibility locus for psychosis...

..0001). Striatal nitrinergic interneurons might thus be involved in the pathogenesis of at least some forms of schizophrenia. Studies on larger samples are however needed to further corroborate this finding...

..In conclusion, our results indicated that NOS-III is involved in the proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells, although behavioural analysis does not provide evidence for a pro-depressive effect of reduced neuroneogenesis...

..Additionally, our results may have important implications for functional brain imaging in which HRs are commonly used as a surrogate for neural activation...

....

..Finally, we attempt to identify future directions of genetic manipulation in animal models to advance our understanding of brain dysregulation characteristic of anxiety disorders...

..Finally, neither Dat nor Nos3 RNA expression was detected in cultured astrocytes. Conclusion: These data provide further evidence for a role of astroglial cells in the molecular mechanisms of action of antidepressants...

..Finally, there is some evidence for genetic factors potentially shared between affective and anxiety disorders pointing to a possible overlapping phenotype between anxiety disorders and depression...

..In anorexia nervosa patients, CDT is unsuitable as a marker of alcohol abuse, but it might serve as a parameter indicating prognosis and disease severity. However, case-control studies with larger samples are warranted...

..The findings converge on the notion that a probabilistic rather than deterministic impact of genes on the expression of behavior will contribute to the demystification of behavioral disorders...

..Thus, we suggest at least three novel types of neostriatal interneurons. Furthermore, a special class of large neurons thought to be efferent in nature, stained NOS-positive...