Author
Mary-Anne Enoch
Bio: Mary-Anne Enoch is an academic researcher from National Institutes of Health. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Poison control. The author has an hindex of 44, co-authored 73 publications receiving 5894 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: There appears to be a direct pathway from chronic stress exposure in pre-pubertal children via adolescent problem drinking to alcohol and drug dependence in early adulthood, however, this route can be moderated by genetic and environmental factors.
Abstract: Rationale
Genetic and environmental influences on the development of alcohol and drug dependence are equally important. Exposure to early life stress, that is unfortunately common in the general population, has been shown to predict a wide range of psychopathology, including addiction.
499 citations
TL;DR: Evidence linking the alcohol flushing response (predominantly due to ALDH2 deficiency) with a much higher risk of esophageal cancer from alcohol consumption is discussed.
Abstract: Philip Brooks and colleagues discuss evidence linking the alcohol flushing response (predominantly due to ALDH2 deficiency) with a much higher risk of esophageal cancer from alcohol consumption.
377 citations
TL;DR: The results of the present study suggest that an inherited difference in catecholamine metabolism is important in the pathogenesis of anxiety in women.
Abstract: ObjectiveWomen are more prone to anxiety than men. The catechol-O-methyltransferase functional polymorphism, Val158Met, is likely to be implicated in anxiety vulnerability. We hypothesized that, particularly in women, the low-activity Met158 allele would be associated with higher anxiety scores and
278 citations
TL;DR: It is found that childhood trauma was associated with suicide attempt and variants of the FKBP5 gene may interact to increase the risk for attempting suicide.
265 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that in this population, the low activity –281 A allele may be protective against anxiety and psychiatric morbidity, whereas Met 66 may be a risk allele.
258 citations
Cited by
More filters
TL;DR: As an adjunct to pharmaceutical therapy, social and behavioral interventions such as regular physical activity and social support reduce the chronic stress burden and benefit brain and body health and resilience.
Abstract: The brain is the key organ of the response to stress because it determines what is threatening and, therefore, potentially stressful, as well as the physiological and behavioral responses which can be either adaptive or damaging. Stress involves two-way communication between the brain and the cardiovascular, immune, and other systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms. Beyond the "flight-or-fight" response to acute stress, there are events in daily life that produce a type of chronic stress and lead over time to wear and tear on the body ("allostatic load"). Yet, hormones associated with stress protect the body in the short-run and promote adaptation ("allostasis"). The brain is a target of stress, and the hippocampus was the first brain region, besides the hypothalamus, to be recognized as a target of glucocorticoids. Stress and stress hormones produce both adaptive and maladaptive effects on this brain region throughout the life course. Early life events influence life-long patterns of emotionality and stress responsiveness and alter the rate of brain and body aging. The hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex undergo stress-induced structural remodeling, which alters behavioral and physiological responses. As an adjunct to pharmaceutical therapy, social and behavioral interventions such as regular physical activity and social support reduce the chronic stress burden and benefit brain and body health and resilience.
3,062 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of preclinical cellular and behavioral models of depression and antidepressant actions, as well as clinical neuroimaging and postmortem studies, are consistent with the hypothesis that decreased expression of BDNF and possibly other growth factors contributes to depression and that upregulation ofBDNF plays a role in the actions of antidepressant treatment.
2,999 citations
29 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The current state of the genetic dissection of complex traits is summarized in this paper, which describes the methods, limitations, and recent applications to biological problems, including linkage analysis, allele-sharing methods, association studies, and polygenic analysis of experimental crosses.
Abstract: Medical genetics was revolutionized during the 1980s by the application of genetic mapping to locate the genes responsible for simple Mendelian diseases. Most diseases and traits, however, do not follow simple inheritance patterns. Geneticists have thus begun taking up the even greater challenge of the genetic dissection of complex traits. Four major approaches have been developed: linkage analysis, allele-sharing methods, association studies, and polygenic analysis of experimental crosses. This article synthesizes the current state of the genetic dissection of complex traits—describing the methods, limitations, and recent applications to biological problems.
1,805 citations
TL;DR: The adaptive plasticity of chronic stress involves many mediators, including glucocorticoids, excitatory amino acids, endogenous factors such as brain neurotrophic factor (BDNF), polysialated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which leads to a different way of regarding more holistic manipulations.
1,609 citations
TL;DR: Val is a predominant factor that determines higher COMT activity in the prefrontal cortex, which presumably leads to lower synaptic dopamine levels and relatively deleterious prefrontal function.
Abstract: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a key enzyme in the elimination of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex of the human brain. Genetic variation in the COMT gene (MIM 116790) has been associated with altered prefrontal cortex function and higher risk for schizophrenia, but the specific alleles and their functional implications have been controversial. We analyzed the effects of several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within COMT on mRNA expression levels (using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis), protein levels (using Western blot analysis), and enzyme activity (using catechol methylation) in a large sample (n = 108) of postmortem human prefrontal cortex tissue, which predominantly expresses the -membrane-bound isoform. A common coding SNP, Val158Met (rs4680), significantly affected protein abundance and enzyme activity but not mRNA expression levels, suggesting that differences in protein integrity account for the difference in enzyme activity between alleles. A SNP in intron 1 (rs737865) and a SNP in the 3′ flanking region (rs165599)—both of which have been reported to contribute to allelic expression differences and to be associated with schizophrenia as part of a haplotype with Val—had no effect on mRNA expression levels, protein immunoreactivity, or enzyme activity. In lymphocytes from 47 subjects, we confirmed a similar effect on enzyme activity in samples with the Val/Met genotype but no effect in samples with the intron 1 or 3′ SNPs. Separate analyses revealed that the subject's sex, as well as the presence of a SNP in the P2 promoter region (rs2097603), had small effects on COMT enzyme activity. Using site-directed mutagenesis of mouse COMT cDNA, followed by in vitro translation, we found that the conversion of Leu at the homologous position into Met or Val progressively and significantly diminished enzyme activity. Thus, although we cannot exclude a more complex genetic basis for functional effects of COMT, Val is a predominant factor that determines higher COMT activity in the prefrontal cortex, which presumably leads to lower synaptic dopamine levels and relatively deleterious prefrontal function.
1,596 citations