Department of Genetics, Institute of Biosciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Avenida Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil.
Adulthood ADHD Outpatient Program (ProDAH), Clinical Research Center, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2023 May;130(5):697-706. doi: 10.1007/s00702-023-02626-5. Epub 2023 Apr 1.
Several GWAS reported Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2 C (MEF2C) gene associations with white matter microstructure and psychiatric disorders, and MEF2C involvement in pathways related to neuronal development suggests a common biological factor underlying these phenotypes. We aim to refine the MEF2C effects in the brain relying on an integrated analysis of white matter and psychiatric phenotypes in an extensively characterized sample. This study included 870 Brazilian adults (47% from an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder outpatient clinic) assessed through standardized psychiatric interviews, 139 of which underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan. We evaluated variants in the MEF2C region using two approaches: 1) a gene-wide analysis, which uses the sum of polymorphism effects, and 2) SNP analyses, restricted to the independent variants within the gene. The outcomes included psychiatric phenotypes and fractional anisotropy for brain images. Results: The gene-wide analyses pointed to a nominal association between MEF2C and the Temporal Portion of the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (SLFTEMP). The SNP analysis identified four independent variants significantly associated with SLFTEMP and one (rs4218438) with Substance Use Disorder. Our findings showing specific associations of MEF2C variants with temporal-frontal circuitry components may help to elucidate how the MEF2C gene underlies a broad range of psychiatric phenotypes since these regions are relevant to executive and cognitive functions.
几项全基因组关联研究报告肌细胞增强因子 2C(MEF2C)基因与脑白质微观结构和精神障碍有关,而 MEF2C 参与与神经元发育相关的途径表明这些表型存在共同的生物学因素。我们旨在通过对广泛特征化样本中的脑白质和精神病理表型进行综合分析,来细化 MEF2C 在大脑中的作用。这项研究包括 870 名巴西成年人(47%来自注意力缺陷/多动障碍门诊),通过标准化的精神科访谈进行评估,其中 139 人接受了磁共振成像扫描。我们使用两种方法评估 MEF2C 区域的变体:1)全基因分析,该分析使用多态性效应的总和,2)SNP 分析,仅限于基因内的独立变体。结果包括精神病理表型和脑图像的各向异性分数。结果:全基因分析表明 MEF2C 与 Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus 的颞部(SLFTEMP)之间存在名义上的关联。SNP 分析确定了四个与 SLFTEMP 显著相关的独立变体,一个与物质使用障碍相关的变体(rs4218438)。我们的研究结果显示 MEF2C 变体与颞额回路成分的特定关联可能有助于阐明 MEF2C 基因如何为广泛的精神病理表型提供基础,因为这些区域与执行和认知功能有关。