Addiction study advances Autism research
- addictionfrontline
- Apr 6, 2015
- 2 min read
Addiction researchers stumbled upon genes decisive to autism spectrum disorder development, creating new possibilities for improving ASD treatment.
In the previous blog entry, addictionfrontline.com explains what addiction can learn from ASD. Learning begets learning. This article explains what addiction research has contributed to advancing ASD treatment.
In 2008, an Ohio State University College of Medicine study revealed the neurexin-1 gene’s entanglement with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) plays a crucial role within nicotine addiction – and, coincidentally, ASD, according to the OSU Research News.
“Variants in several genes, including neurexin-1 and -3, have been associated with addictions to multiple drugs,” states a National Institutes of Health study, in 2009.
People with addiction possess an overabundance of nAChR and neurexin while people with ASD possess a shortage of nAChR and neurexin, according to OSU Research News.
Deleting some nAChR genes helped rats develop a resistance to nicotine and cocaine, according to the NIH.
The reverse of the NIH study could lead to better ASD treatment.
“If we were to use drugs that mimic the actions of nicotine at an early time in human brain development, would we begin to help those and other circuits develop properly and thus significantly mitigate the deficits in autism?” said OSU Pharmacology Associate Professor Rene Anand, in OSU Research News. “It would not be a complete cure, but right now we know very little and have no drugs that tackle the primary causes of autism.”
OSU researchers conducted the addiction study using information from two previous ASD studies showing a shortage of nAChR and mutations within the neurexin-1 gene. The ASD research did not correlate the neurexin-1 gene mutations with the nAChR shortage until the addiction study connected the dots, according to OSU Research news.
“None of the association studies have been able to prove what causes autism,” Anand said, in OSU Research News. “And then we accidentally discovered that neurexin-1 and nicotinic receptors tangle. Our finding filled a gap by saying there is a physical and functional association between these two things occurring in the brain.”
Within the past year, studies show removing the neurexin protein mutations reverses the autistic symptoms in adult mice, according to Cell Reports.
Other recent neurexin studies aim to enhance psychotherapy treatment for ASD.
Addiction research contributes to more than substance abuse - it contributes to unlocking the secrets of the mind. Improving the quality of treatment for people afflicted by addiction will inevitable permeate throughout mental health research and help others afflicated by other devastating mental conditions.
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