ISSN: 2161-1165

Epidemiology: Open Access
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  • Epidemiol 2014, Vol 4(3): 158
  • DOI: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000158

Genome Wide Sequencing Compared to Candidate Gene Association Studies for Predisposition to Substance Abuse a Subset of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): Are we throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater?

Kenneth Blum1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9*, Eric R. Braverman1,2, Florian Kreuk2, Kristina Dushaj2, Mona Li2, Debmayla Barh3 and Marlene Oscar-Berman10
1Department of Psychiatry & McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
2Department of Clinical Neurology, PATH Foundation, , New York, NY, USA
3Institute of Integrative Omics and Applied Biotechnology, , Nonakuri, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India
4Department of Holistic Medicine, National Institute for Holist Addiction Studies, , North Miami Beach, FL, USA
5Human Integrated Services Unit University of Vermont Center for Clinical & Translational Science, College of Medicine, , Burlington, VT, USA
6Dominion Diagnostics, LLC, , North Kingstown, RI, USA
7Departmentof Addiction Research & Therapy, Malibu Beach Recovery Center, , Malibu Beach, CA, USA
8IGENE, LLC, Austin, , Texas, USA
9RDSolutions, LLC., La Jolla, , California, USA
10Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, and Boston VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
*Corresponding Author : Kenneth Blum, Department of Psychiatry & McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA, Tel: 619-890-216, Email: drd2gene@gmail.com

Received Date: Mar 25, 2014 / Accepted Date: Apr 27, 2014 / Published Date: Apr 30, 2014

Abstract

In 1990 Blum, Noble and associates utilized a candidate approach to associate the first genetic polymorphic association with severe alcoholism that was published in JAMA. This experiment was based on a “blue print” of the reward circuitry proposed as the “brain Reward Cascade”. Impairment of this system leads to aberrant substance seeking behavior. Over the last five years newer and more sophisticated techniques have been developed, including whole genome sequencing, as well as exome sequencing. While there are different schools of thought regarding appropriate approaches to dissecting a very complex disorder known as Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) as an umbrella term for all addictions, future approaches may combine both genome sequencing with gene candidates. Importantly, GWAS/WES generally provides the most value for highly penetrant, rare alleles and as such may not currently be as informative as the candidate gene approach. However, since there is convergence of GWAS and neurotransmitter clusters including specific genes (e.g. DRD1, DRD2, DAt1, etc.) albeit small contributions for each gene, thousands of studies have elucidated risk alleles to RDS behaviors. Thus, we are proposing herein that we should not hasten to “throw out the baby with the bathwater”, because genetic addiction risk stratification depends upon the current candidate gene analysis.

Keywords: Candidate genes; Neurotransmitters; Dopaminergic

Citation: Blum K, Braverman ER, Kreuk F, Dushaj K, Li M, et al. (2014) Genome Wide Sequencing Compared to Candidate Gene Association Studies for Predisposition to Substance Abuse a Subset of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): Are we throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater?. Epidemiol 4:158. Doi: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000158

Copyright: © 2014 Blum K, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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