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Differentiating nicotine- versus schizophrenia-associated decreases of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor transcript, CHRFAM7A, in peripheral blood lymphocytes

  • Biological Psychiatry - Original Article
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Abstract

Nicotine addiction is prevalent in individuals with schizophrenia. Nicotine activation of nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) is time- and dose-dependent, but gene expression analyses often rely on qualitative self- or family-reported measures of smoking. We sought lymphocyte surrogates for cerebral α7-nAChR activity and tested if receptor transcription correlated with concurrently measured serum biomarkers for smoking [cotinine, C-reactive protein (CRP)]. PCR surveys to detect lymphocytic α7-related isoforms identified CHRFAM7A as the only consistently amplifiable transcript. In 20 smoking-matched people (n = 10 schizophrenia, n = 10 controls), we found significantly lower CHRFAM7A in cotinine and self-reported smokers versus nonsmokers (p ≤ 0.001–0.03) and an inverse correlation of cotinine with CHRFAM7A (p ≤ 0.04) in regression models. CHRFAM7A was not associated with diagnosis or CRP in any bi- or multi-variate analysis. Smoking-related CRP elevations only occurred in cotinine-based comparisons (p ≤ 0.03), and not when smoking was self-reported. Including biochemical indicators of serum nicotine can help differentiate smoking- versus disease-associated changes in nAChR expression.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Vada and Theodore Stanley and the Stanley Medical Research Institute for their support. The authors also thank Ann Cusic for administrative assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Blalock 1105, Baltimore, MD, 21287-4933, USA

    Emily G. Severance & Robert H. Yolken

  2. Stanley Research Center, Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Faith B. Dickerson, Cassie R. Stallings, Andrea E. Origoni & Anne Sullens

  3. Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

    Eric T. Monson

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  1. Emily G. Severance
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  2. Faith B. Dickerson
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Correspondence to Emily G. Severance.

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Severance, E.G., Dickerson, F.B., Stallings, C.R. et al. Differentiating nicotine- versus schizophrenia-associated decreases of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor transcript, CHRFAM7A, in peripheral blood lymphocytes. J Neural Transm 116, 213–220 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0164-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0164-y

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