{"id":80736,"date":"2016-09-05T02:18:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T06:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=80736"},"modified":"2016-09-05T02:22:59","modified_gmt":"2016-09-05T06:22:59","slug":"researchers-uncover-genetic-effects-prenatal-alcohol-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/09\/05\/researchers-uncover-genetic-effects-prenatal-alcohol-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers uncover genetic effects of prenatal alcohol exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Anders Sandberg\/Flickr<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VANCOUVER\u2014Canadian researchers are one step closer to uncovering a biomarker associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder after identifying distinct patterns associated with the DNA of children who were exposed to alcohol in the womb.<\/p>\n

The investigation, led by the University of British Columbia, analyzed DNA samples from 110 children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re entering into a new era where having insights into what’s going on behind these neurodevelopment disabilities, and FASD in particular, isn’t a matter of us throwing up our hands and saying there’s nothing we can do,\u201d said Daniel Goldowitz, scientific director of the Kids Brain Health Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, everything indicates that there is a lot that we could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study relied on data collected through the network, a national collaboration that aims to improve the understanding and treatment of neurodevelopment disorders, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and autism.<\/p>\n

The findings were published earlier this summer in the journal Epigenetics and Chromatin.<\/p>\n

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is an umbrella term used for a range of irreversible cognitive and physical disabilities that a baby is born with as result of a woman consuming alcohol during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Studying the effect prenatal alcohol exposure has on a person’s DNA can lead to better assessment and diagnostic techniques, Goldowitz said.<\/p>\n

The study co-author, Prof. Elodie Portales-Casamar of the University of British Columbia’s pediatrics department, said the findings are a first step in understanding the underlying mechanisms that alcohol exposure has on brain development.<\/p>\n

The study looked at two million genetic markers and another 450,000 epigenetic markers, which control the activity of DNA.<\/p>\n

Portales-Casamar said the research team found that methylation, a process that affects how genes behave, differed for children who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.<\/p>\n

Michael Kobor, a professor of medical genetics at the university, likened methylation to a dimmer for a light bulb, regulating its activity to control how bright or active a gene is.<\/p>\n

A number of environmental factors can affect gene behaviour, resulting in wide variations even when comparing the DNA of average, healthy people, Portales-Casamar said, adding that means finding patterns responsible for a particular disorder is difficult.<\/p>\n

She said researchers have found consistent, statistically significant patterns of methylation unique to the children who were exposed to alcohol before birth compared to those who were not.<\/p>\n

They also noticed some patterns around what parts of the genetic code were affected, Kobor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that some of the genes that are differentially methylated between the FASD kids and the control (group) appear to be involved in neurodevelopment and brain development and such.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further studies of this pattern could help identify what specific parts of the DNA are affected and uncover biomarkers that would make a laboratory test possible for diagnosing the disorder, he said.<\/p>\n

Currently, diagnosing the disorder requires a series of assessments by specialists and typically doesn’t happen until children are in school, when signs of developmental or behavioural issues become apparent, Portales-Casamar said.<\/p>\n

The ability to test DNA for signs of the disorder would allow for a much earlier diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough there is no cure for FASD, early interventions can really help a lot of kids with their cognitive impairments and lots of different aspects of their lives,\u201d Portales-Casamar said of the disorder that may affect speech, learning and behaviour.<\/p>\n

Developing a genetic test would have other benefits, Goldowitz said, adding children in remote communities may one day be diagnosed with a swab sent to a lab outside their region.<\/p>\n

Genetic studies already done for other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Down syndrome and autism, have uncovered biomarkers, potentially leading to treatment or even reversal of the conditions, he said.<\/p>\n

While the research on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not as advanced, Goldowitz said the current findings could lead to similar developments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is increasing evidence for what we would have thought as irreparable damage to the nervous system of it being turned back and intervened successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER\u2014Canadian researchers are one step closer to uncovering a biomarker associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder after identifying distinct patterns …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":80737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[12135,12137,12136],"class_list":["post-80736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-alcohol-exposure","tag-genetics","tag-pregnacy","mauthors-linda-givetash","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}