TITLE:
Genetic Polymorphisms of Nervous System Development and the Risk of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
AUTHORS:
Diana Avetyan, Arsen Arakelyan, Gohar Mkrtchyan
KEYWORDS:
BDNF, NGF, NGFR, NTNG1, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Molecular Biology,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
11,
2018
ABSTRACT: Background: Posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) is a complex severe polygenic psychiatric disease, influenced by
environmental and genetic factors. PTSD development and progression is characterized
by cognitive impairment, which may result in altered processes of nervous system
development and synaptic plasticity, where a number of growth factors and their receptors were shown to play important role. Since neurotrophins play an essential
role in the development of central nervous system, it is widely implicated in psychiatric
disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential association functional
polymorphisms of genes encoding netrin G1 (NTNG1), brain-derived neurotrophic
factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) and its receptor (NGFR) with PTSD. Methods:
Study groups consisted of 200 combat veterans with PTSD and an equal number of controls
with no family or past history of any psychiatric disorders. The DNA samples were
genotyped for NTNG1 rs62811; BDNF rs6265; NGF rs6330, rs4839435; NGFR rs11466155,
rs734194 SNPs using polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers. Results:
According to the results, NGF rs6330 was overrepresented
in patients with PTSD compared to controls. Furthermore, negative association for
BDNF rs6265, NGF rs4839435 and NGFR rs734194 was observed in PTSD patients. Conclusions:
In summary, BDNF rs6265, NGF rs6330, rs4839435 and NGFR rs734194 are implicated
in PTSD in Armenian population. However, further research is required to provide the definitive evidence of selected
polymorphism association with gene expression.