Genetic Link to Why Some Drinkers Can't Stop

Recent study shows that genetic play a major role in why some drinkers can’t stop. About 10 percent of people will develop alcohol disorders. Some ranges from mild to the severe type. Few individuals experience alcohol dependence that they can’t start or go through their days without alcohol.

A scientist at University of California found that moderate drinking activates a protein called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). BDNF works by protecting against drinking too much. A study published in the journal or Molecular Psychiatry, they experiment on mice to determine the threshold into excess drinking is crossed. It was concluded that when mice mimic human act of binge drinking their level of BDNF protein decreased significantly. In addition, scientists discovered a corresponding microRNA called miR-30a-5p that might play a role in BDNF.

When miR-30a-5p increased, BDNF decreased and the mice wanted to drink more alcohol than water. On the hand, when miR-30a-5p was inhibited, the brain returned to normal including the drinking behaviors of the mice. The study with mice provides clues that similar results may be happening un human brain during alcohol consumption. It is possible that some people are genetically susceptible in developing alcohol disorders. One day, researchers hope that new finding might provide data to increase success rate of alcoholism therapies. 

Article: http://time.com/3528029/drinking-problem-alcohol/

coffee causes a nee future in genetics

In Boston, Massachusetts a group of geneticists from Harvard School of Public Health looked at the effect of habitual coffee drinking and how people start to form new genetic responses to it. The scientists took 12,000 habitual coffee drinkers from European and African American descent. Within the study they identified two variants that are linked to genes which is, POR and ABCG2. Those two variants code for the effects of caffeine that we like, the reward. The variants are linked too other two variants BDNF and SLC6A4 that were found near POR and ABCG2. It is proven that people take different doses of caffeine dependent on their caffeine intake metabolism so that they experience the effects that they are looking for. Coffee consumption and how it is becoming "addicting" is being put in the same genetic field as alcohol and smoking consumption.

I believe in what these researchers are saying, in my experience of drinking coffee that on a long span of drinking it the first week ill drink one cup and the effects would be great, then the same dose of coffee the second and third week would feel like it had no effect at all. This is the same effect of alcohol and smoking. Caffeine is something that is becoming more serious and many people are relying on it to function in their daily lives.

Article Link:http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/genetic-variants-linked-with-coffee-drinking/

Coffee Drinking Habits Driven by Genetics

A new meta-analysis has found genetic reasons as to why caffeine has different effects on different people. Previously, scientists thought there to be a genetic mechanism behind individual responses to caffeine. However, identifying the specific gene variants that are responsible for the differences in responses has been difficult. In 2006, researchers conducted a study that examined how the different genetic profiles of coffee drinkers may influence whether drinking lots of coffee is good of bad for the individuals health.

Today, the same researchers that were involved in that study discovered that people carrying a version of the gene that is responsible for slow metabolism of caffeine had a 36% higher risk of heart attack of they drank up to three cups of coffee a day, compared to those carrying that gene who only drank one a day. On the other hand, those who had the version of the gene responsible for fast caffeine metabolism that drank up to three cups of coffee a day were found to have a lowered risk of heart attack.

In a new study, researchers performed a genome-wide meta-analysis of more than 120,000 regular coffee drinkers. Identified were two gene variants- POR and ABCG2- related to caffeine metabolism and two gene variants- near genes BDNF and SLC6A4- that may influence the “rewarding” effect of caffeine. Additionally, two genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism- GCKR and MLXIPL- were associated for the first time with the metabolic and neurological effects of caffeine.

Marilyn Cornelis, a research associate in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Heath described the study’s results:

“ Coffee and caffeine have been linked to beneficial and adverse health effects. Our findings may allow is to identify subgroups of people most likely to benefit from increasing or decreasing coffee consumption for optimal health. The new candidate genes are not the ones we have focused on in the past, so this is an important step forward in coffee research.”

This study suggests that coffee intake is “naturally modulated” by individuals in order to experience the optimal effects of the caffeine.  As an avid coffee drinker, I find this newfound information to be very interesting. Before reading this article, I had no idea that gene variants that influenced the effects of caffeine existed. Overall, I find it remarkable that individuals are able to effortlessly adjust in order to get the most out of the caffeine they consume and in order to keep themselves in optimum health.

Article Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283515.php

Coffee Consumption Driven by Genetics

A large-scale study has recently identified six new genetic variants connected to coffee drinking. "Coffee and caffeine have been linked to beneficial and adverse health effects. Our findings may allow us to identify subgroups of people most likely to benefit from increasing or decreasing coffee consumption for optimal health," said Marilyn Cornelis, the lead author of the study. 

Genetic response to coffee and caffeine has been largely questioned by science. The only issue was the challenge of finding the specific gene with variants that would cause such varied responses. The Coffee and Caffeine Genetics Consortium analyzed the genome of over 120,000 coffee consumers of different ancestries (mainly European and African American). They found two variants that linked the genes involved in caffeine metabolism, POR and ABCG2. These variants were located near genes BDNF and SLC6A4 which could influence the "rewarding effects of caffeine."

That means that, depending on the variant, we each would respond differently to caffeine based on our genetic makeup. Therefore, each individual consumes enough coffee/caffeine to experience the "optimal effects" of the caffeine. This means that the stronger an individuals genetic factors linking to coffee intake would increase their caffeine metabolism, meaning they would need to intake more caffeine than the "average" person. The research is still ongoing, but focusing on certain ancestries such as European and African Americans has greatly helped with the organization's research. 

I found this article interesting because I had always thought one's response to coffee was more of a tolerance than an actual genetic makeup. The fact that genetics can influence certain habitual behaviors is extremely interesting to me. This explains why some people (myself included) need at least a cup of coffee a day to seem alive, whereas others don't require any caffeine at all. 

Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141007092352.htm  

Related Article:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283515.php

Can Gene Therapy Stop The Progression Of Hearing Loss?

Living with a sister who is hard of hearing, I know about the challenges that families face when their loved one is affected with this disability. Not only has my sister had to receive special treatment in school and workplace, but it has always been difficult to communicate with her as I do with the rest of my family. When I visit her at school, I enter into a new world full of deaf students who have complete hearing loss, and the communication barrier is evident. Researchers, Karen B. Avrahmam and Yehoash Raphael have discovered that gene therapy could be used as a protective measure against the nerve cells of the inner ear from hearing loss. Their study focuses on the connexin 26 gene, which is the most prevalent cause of hearing loss in humans. The study shows that a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is a protein growth factor used to protect and maintain neurons, could be used to block this degeneration from occurring. They are using mice for research on this idea. First they create a virus the body can handle that doesn’t cause disease and then inject the BDNF into the virus. Then they inject the virus into the ears of the mice. The protein was found to actually protect the neurons in the inner ear! This discovery may be used with hearing aids such as cochlear implants to improve hearing. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices that provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or has severe hearing loss. This new discovery will hopefully lead to different ways to help people suffering from hearing loss and potentially stop its progression. 

Gene Mutation Leads to Obesity

In a recent article published by Science Daily says how researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered how a gene mutation can be responsible for obesity. The team at Georgetown found that a mutation to BDNF (brain derived nuerotrophic factor) gene doesn’t allow leptin and insulin to properly reach the brain. These are two hormones that are release once the body has been satisfied by the consumption of food.

Until this study was performed, researchers were clueless as to which gene controls the secretion of leptin and insulin. Even though the gene linked to obesity has been discovered, there is no cure to repair the BDNF gene. Researchers are currently experimenting different ways to repair this gene and cure adult obesity.

One Gene Mutation = Uncontrollable Obesity

In America, it seems like a major issue that is plaguing us with worry is obesity. Some of the lucky ones with a faster metabolism, allowing digestion to occur more quickly, results in a more or less slimmer figure. But has anyone ever given thought that it might be the other way around also?

Baoji Xu, Ph.D. has. As an associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown University Medical Center, Xu has been researching a single gene mutation that occurs within the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (Bdnf). With this mutation, the brain does not receive the chemical signals needed, by leptin and insulin, to turn on the mechanism that suppresses the desire to keep eating, and then tells the body that it is now full. Without these signals transmitted, individuals will just keep eating until they become obese and beyond. The can never fully feel satisfied.

Until this study, it was known that the Bdnf gene has some correlation with controlling body weight. After this study, published on the Nature’s Medicine website, now we know why. Bdnf synthesis is stimulated with leptin and insulin in the dendrites on neuroglia to get their chemical message across the synapses to adjacent neurons. With the mutation of the Bdnf gene, the chemical signals cannot be passed on through the neurons, and one’s hunger will never be suppressed.