1. DRD4 methylation as a potential biomarker for physical aggression
- Author
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Richard E. Tremblay, Essi Viding, Esther Walton, Frank Vitaro, Sylvana M. Côté, Moshe Szyf, Jean-Baptiste Pingault, Charlotte A.M. Cecil, Henning Tiemeier, Irene Pappa, Nadine Provencal, Eamon McCrory, Clinical Child and Family Studies, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Psychology
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Male ,T-Lymphocytes ,Dopamine D4/genetics ,Bioinformatics ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,Receptors ,Genetics (clinical) ,DNA methylation ,Genome ,externalizing problems ,Mendelian Randomization Analysis ,Epigenesis, Genetic/genetics ,T-Lymphocytes/metabolism ,Aggression ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Genome-Wide Association Study/methods ,Biomarker (medicine) ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,DNA Methylation/genetics ,replication ,Adolescent ,DNA/blood ,Aggression/physiology ,Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,Young Adult ,Mendelian randomization ,medicine ,Humans ,Receptors, Dopamine D4/genetics ,Epigenetics ,Genetic/genetics ,physical aggression ,Receptors, Dopamine D4 ,dNaM ,Epigenome ,DNA ,DNA Methylation ,030104 developmental biology ,DRD4 ,Biomarkers ,Biomarkers/blood ,Genome-Wide Association Study ,Epigenesis - Abstract
Epigenetic processes that regulate gene expression, such as DNA methylation (DNAm), have been linked to individual differences in physical aggression. Yet, it is currently unclear whether: (a) DNAm patterns in humans associate with physical aggression independently of other co-occurring psychiatric and behavioral symptoms; (b) whether these patterns are observable across multiple tissues; and (c) whether they may function as a causal versus noncausal biomarker of physical aggression. Here, we used a multisample, cross-tissue design to address these questions. First, we examined genome-wide DNAm patterns (buccal swabs; Illumina 450k) associated with engagement in physical fights in a sample of high-risk youth (n = 119; age = 16-24 years; 53% female). We identified one differentially methylated region in DRD4, which survived genome-wide correction, associated with physical aggression above and beyond co-occurring symptomatology (e.g., ADHD, substance use), and showed strong cross-tissue concordance with both blood and brain. Second, we found that DNAm sites within this region were also differentially methylated in an independent sample of young adults, between individuals with a history of chronic-high versus low physical aggression (peripheral T cells; ages 26-28). Finally, we ran a Mendelian randomization analysis using GWAS data from the EAGLE consortium to test for a causal association of DRD4 methylation with physical aggression. Only one genetic instrument was eligible for the analysis, and results provided no evidence for a causal association. Overall, our findings lend support for peripheral DRD4 methylation as a potential biomarker of physically aggressive behavior, with no evidence yet of a causal relationship.
- Published
- 2018
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