A study has shown over 100 genes linked to schizophrenia may influence risk for the condition, not due to the way they act in the immature brain, but due to their function in the placenta.
Geneticists have thought for a long time that the genetic risk component of schizophrenia primarily affects the brain. New research has revealed the genes' expression in the placenta could have a larger role than believed. The transcriptome (the gene readouts produced from constituent cell) of 147 healthy placenta samples were sequenced by researchers and compared with similar data from brain tissue samples.
CEO of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Dr. Daniel Weinberger has said, “The secret of the genetics of schizophrenia has been hiding in plain sight – the placenta, the critical organ in supporting prenatal development, launches the developmental trajectory of risk. The commonly shared view on the causes of schizophrenia is that genetic and environmental risk factors play a role directly and only in the brain, but these latest results show that placenta health is also critical.”
Genes that were linked to that later risk of developing schizophrenia were found to alter how well the placenta detected nutrients such as oxygen, which can be found in the mother's bloodstream, and pass them on to the developing fetus.
Cells that can influence this are called trophoblasts. Authors of this study have suggested lower levels of gene expression can inhibit how well a placenta can nurture the fetus.
Other gene associations in the placenta were identified, and show links to diabetes, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and autism. However, the greatest number of links were connected to schizophrenia.
Heritability is the extent in which variation in a trait can be affected by variations in genes passed down. It has been suggested that variation in placental genes could have a more significant impact on variation in schizophrenia than variation in brain genes.
It was also found that sex played a role in gene associations. Males are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and male cases are identified earlier. It was also found that inflammation-linked genes played a more significant role in the placenta from a male child.
The appeal of targeting genes affecting the placenta is the potential to alter risk for conditions at a really early stage of development and improve the potential for prevention.
An investigator at the Lieber Institute, Dr. Gianluca Ursini has said, “Scientists could detect changes in placental risk genes decades before the possible onset of a disorder, possibly even in the mother’s bloodstream during pregnancy. If doctors knew which children were most at risk of developmental disorders, they could implement early interventions to keep them healthy.”
Dr Weinberger added, “In the modern era of molecular and genetic medicine, the standard treatment for a complicated pregnancy is still primarily bedrest. These new molecular insights into how genes related to disorders of the brain and other organs play out in the placenta offer new opportunities for improving prenatal health and preventing complications later in life.”
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