@article{WittBuchmannBlomeyeretal.2011,
  author    = {Witt, Stephanie H. and Buchmann, Arlette F. and Blomeyer, Dorothea and Nieratschker, Vanessa and Treutlein, Jens and Esser, G{\"u}nter and Schmidt, Martin H. and Bidlingmaier, Martin and Wiedemann, Klaus and Rietschel, Marcella and Laucht, Manfred and Wuest, Stefan and Zimmermann, Ulrich S.},
  title     = {An interaction between a neuropeptide Y gene polymorphism and early adversity modulates endocrine stress responses},
  series = {Psychoneuroendocrinology},
  volume    = {36},
  journal   = {Psychoneuroendocrinology},
  number    = {7},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0306-4530},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.015},
  pages     = {1010 -- 1020},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Interindividual variability in the regulation of the human stress system accounts for a part of the individual's liability to stress-related diseases. These differences are influenced by environmental and genetic factors. Early childhood adversity is a well-studied environmental factor affecting an individual's stress response which has been shown to be modulated by gene environment interaction (GxE). Neuropeptide Y (NPY) plays a role in stress regulation and genetic variation in NPY may influence stress responses. In this study, we analyzed the association of a common variant in the NPY gene promoter, rs16147, with cortisol and ACTH responses to acute psychosocial stress in young adults from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), an ongoing epidemiological cohort study following the outcome of early adversity from birth into adulthood. We found evidence of a GxE interaction between rs16147 and early adversity significantly affecting HPA axis responses to acute psychosocial stress. These findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanisms linking early adverse experience and later neuroendocrine stress regulation are modulated by a gene variant whose functional relevance is documented by increasing convergent evidence from in vitro, animal and human studies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{ClarkeLauchtRidingeretal.2011,
  author    = {Clarke, Toni-Kim and Laucht, Manfred and Ridinger, Monika and Wodarz, Norbert and Rietschel, Marcella and Maier, Wolfgang and Lathrop, Mark and Lourdusamy, Anbarasu and Zimmermann, Ulrich S. and Desrivieres, Sylvane and Schumann, Gunter},
  title     = {KCNJ6 is associated with adult alcohol dependence and involved in gene x early life stress interactions in adolescent alcohol drinking},
  series = {Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology},
  volume    = {36},
  journal   = {Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {Nature Publ. Group},
  address   = {London},
  issn      = {0893-133X},
  doi       = {10.1038/npp.2010.247},
  pages     = {1142 -- 1148},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {Alcohol abuse and dependence have proven to be complex genetic traits that are influenced by environmental factors. Primate and human studies have shown that early life stress increases the propensity for alcohol abuse in later life. The reinforcing properties of alcohol are mediated by dopaminergic signaling; however, there is little evidence to indicate how stress alters alcohol reinforcement. KCNJ6 (the gene encoding G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channel 2 (GIRK2)) is a brain expressed potassium channel with inhibitory effects on dopaminergic tone. The properties of GIRK2 have been shown to be enhanced by the stress peptide corticotrophin-releasing hormone. Therefore, we sought to examine the role of KCNJ6 polymorphisms in adult alcohol dependence and stress-related alcohol abuse in adolescents. We selected 11 SNPs in the promoter region of KCNJ6, which were genotyped in 1152 adult alcohol dependents and 1203 controls. One SNP, rs2836016, was found to be associated with alcohol dependence (p = 0.01, false discovery rate). We then assessed rs2836016 in an adolescent sample of 261 subjects, which were characterized for early life stress and adolescent hazardous drinking, defined using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), to examine gene-environment interactions. In the adolescent sample, the risk genotype of rs2836016 was significantly associated with increased AUDIT scores, but only in those individuals exposed to high levels of psychosocial stress in early life (p = 0.01). Our findings show that KCNJ6 is associated with alcohol dependence and may moderate the effect of early psychosocial stress on risky alcohol drinking in adolescents. We have identified a candidate gene for future studies investigating a possible functional link between the response to stress and alcohol reinforcement.},
  language  = {en}
}