Taseva Teodora, Koycheva Yana, Racheva Rositsa, Raycheva Tsveta, Hodzhev Yordan, Nikolova Emilia, Ilieva Mila, Krasteva Maria
Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Laboratory of Genome Dynamics and Stability, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev Street, Bldg. 21, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Institute for Population and Human Studies, Department of Psychology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev Street, Bldg. 6, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Biochem Genet. 2024 Nov 30. doi: 10.1007/s10528-024-10981-5.
Substance use disorder (SUD) is a complex condition involving psychological, sociocultural, and genetic factors. In this study, we examined the alternations in mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) and telomere length (TL) and their relationship to demographic, medical, heredity, and substance use characteristics in patients with SUD and healthy controls. We investigated a total cohort of 54 participants: 21 healthy individuals, 17 patients with alcohol dependence (AD), and 16 patients with drug dependence (DD). TL and mtDNAcn were measured using quantitative real-time PCR, with statistical methods used to assess the association between variables. We observed a significant decrease in mtDNAcn in both SUD groups, particularly associated with chronic diseases in the AD group. No significant differences in TL were found among the three groups. Sex-associated analysis revealed a significant mtDNAcn reduction in the DD males and elevated TL in AD males compared to control males. Correlation analyses showed associations between the two biomarkers and age, sex, and chronic diseases. Our findings suggest that leukocyte mtDNAcn is a more sensitive marker than TL in patients with SUD, indicating sex-specific patterns of alterations. These findings require confirmation through larger cohort recruitment.
物质使用障碍（SUD）是一种涉及心理、社会文化和遗传因素的复杂病症。在本研究中，我们检查了线粒体DNA拷贝数（mtDNAcn）和端粒长度（TL）的变化及其与SUD患者和健康对照者的人口统计学、医学、遗传和物质使用特征的关系。我们调查了总共54名参与者：21名健康个体、17名酒精依赖（AD）患者和16名药物依赖（DD）患者。使用定量实时PCR测量TL和mtDNAcn，并使用统计方法评估变量之间的关联。我们观察到两个SUD组的mtDNAcn均显著降低，特别是与AD组的慢性疾病相关。三组之间在TL方面未发现显著差异。性别相关分析显示，与对照男性相比，DD男性的mtDNAcn显著降低，AD男性的TL升高。相关性分析显示这两种生物标志物与年龄、性别和慢性疾病之间存在关联。我们的研究结果表明，在SUD患者中，白细胞mtDNAcn比TL是更敏感的标志物，表明存在性别特异性的变化模式。这些发现需要通过招募更大的队列进行确认。
