2012年10月9日 電 /生物谷BIOON/ --近日,，麥吉爾大學(xué)研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)人類(lèi)基因組中的一小塊區(qū)域在精神疾病和肥胖的發(fā)生發(fā)展過(guò)程中起到了重要作用,。研究指出了腦源性神經(jīng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)因子的基因缺失與情緒和焦慮有關(guān)，腦源性神經(jīng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)因子是神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的生長(zhǎng)因子,，其在大腦發(fā)育中起著至關(guān)重要的作用,。
為了確定腦源性神經(jīng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)因子在人類(lèi)中的作用，麥吉爾大學(xué)精神病學(xué)系Carl Ernst教授等人篩選了35,000多名在診所中進(jìn)行基因篩查者和30,000多名正常對(duì)照者,。總體而言,，5名被確定是BDNF缺失的,，這些人都是肥胖者，或有輕,、中度智力障礙,，或是情緒障礙者,。科學(xué)家們一直試圖找到基因組中哪個(gè)區(qū)域在人的精神病理學(xué)中發(fā)揮了作用,，Ernst教授說(shuō),，而該研究得出結(jié)論是腦源性神經(jīng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)因子基因組中某個(gè)區(qū)域確實(shí)與情緒和焦慮有關(guān)。
這項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在Archives of General Psychiatry,，研究第一次證實(shí)BDNF的缺失與認(rèn)知和人體重的增加有聯(lián)系,。在動(dòng)物實(shí)驗(yàn)研究的基礎(chǔ)上，BDNF一直被懷疑有與大腦中的許多功能有聯(lián)系,，但沒(méi)有確切研究表明當(dāng)腦源性神經(jīng)營(yíng)養(yǎng)因子從人類(lèi)基因組中丟失后,，會(huì)帶來(lái)什么影響。這項(xiàng)新研究便于更好的理解基因是如何參與調(diào)控人類(lèi)行為和情緒的,。
Ernst補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：現(xiàn)在,，我們確信了一條涉及精神病理學(xué)的分子途徑，而這條分子途徑涉及數(shù)千個(gè)基因參與了情緒,、焦慮或肥胖的調(diào)控過(guò)程,。在這項(xiàng)研究中，所有參與者有輕,，中度智力殘疾,，但這些有認(rèn)知問(wèn)題的人并沒(méi)有精神問(wèn)題，所以BDNF的缺失到底對(duì)情緒有什么影響,？現(xiàn)在研究人員希望測(cè)試是否提高BDNF的表達(dá)能改善焦慮或抑郁患者的大腦健康情況,。（生物谷：Bioon.com）
doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.660
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Highly Penetrant Alterations of a Critical Region Including BDNF in Human Psychopathology and Obesity.
Ernst C, Marshall CR, Shen Y, et al.
McGill researchers have identified a small region in the genome that conclusively plays a role in the development of psychiatric disease and obesity. The key lies in the genomic deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a nervous system growth factor that plays a critical role in brain development.To determine the role of BDNF in humans, Prof. Carl Ernst, from McGill's Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, screened over 35,000 people referred for genetic screening at clinics and over 30,000 control subjects in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Overall, five individuals were identified with BDNF deletions, all of whom were obese, had a mild-moderate intellectual impairment, and had a mood disorder. Children had anxiety disorders, aggressive disorders, or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while post-pubescent subjects had anxiety and major depressive disorders. Subjects gradually gained weight as they aged, suggesting that obesity is a long-term process when BDNF is deleted.Scientists have been trying to find a region of the genome which plays a role in human psychopathology, searching for answers anywhere in our DNA that may give us a clue to the genetic causes of these types of disorders," says Prof. Ernst, who is also a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. "Our study conclusively links a single region of the genome to mood and anxiety."The findings, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, reveal for the first time the link between BDNF deletion, cognition, and weight gain in humans. BDNF has been suspected to have many functions in the brain based on animal studies, but no study had shown what happens when BDNF is missing from the human genome. This research provides a step toward better understanding human behaviour and mood by clearly identifying genes that may be involved in mental disorders.
