Browsing by Author "Balaraman, Yokesh"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Clinical predictors of non-response to lithium treatment in the Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) study
    (Wiley, 2021) Lin, Yian; Maihofer, Adam X.; Stapp, Emma; Ritchey, Megan; Alliey‐Rodriguez, Ney; Anand, Amit; Balaraman, Yokesh; Berrettini, Wade H.; Bertram, Holli; Bhattacharjee, Abesh; Calkin, Cynthia V.; Conroy, Carla; Coryell, William; D'Arcangelo, Nicole; DeModena, Anna; Biernacka, Joanna M.; Fisher, Carrie; Frazier, Nicole; Frye, Mark; Gao, Keming; Garnham, Julie; Gershon, Elliot; Glazer, Kara; Goes, Fernando S.; Goto, Toyomi; Karberg, Elizabeth; Harrington, Gloria; Jakobsen, Petter; Kamali, Masoud; Kelly, Marisa; Leckband, Susan G.; Lohoff, Falk W.; Stautland, Andrea; McCarthy, Michael J.; McInnis, Melvin G.; Mondimore, Francis; Morken, Gunnar; Nurnberger, John I.; Oedegaard, Ketil J.; Syrstad, Vigdis Elin Giever; Ryan, Kelly; Schinagle, Martha; Schoeyen, Helle; Andreassen, Ole A.; Shaw, Marth; Shilling, Paul D.; Slaney, Claire; Tarwater, Bruce; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Alda, Martin; Nievergelt, Caroline M.; Zandi, Peter P.; Kelsoe, John R.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Background Lithium is regarded as a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), but partial response and non-response commonly occurs. There exists a need to identify lithium non-responders prior to initiating treatment. The Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) Study was designed to identify predictors of lithium response. Methods The PGBD Study was an eleven site prospective trial of lithium treatment in bipolar I disorder. Subjects were stabilized on lithium monotherapy over 4 months and gradually discontinued from all other psychotropic medications. After ensuring a sustained clinical remission (defined by a score of ≤3 on the CGI for 4 weeks) had been achieved, subjects were followed for up to 2 years to monitor clinical response. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the relationship between clinical measures and time until failure to remit or relapse. Results A total of 345 individuals were enrolled into the study and included in the analysis. Of these, 101 subjects failed to remit or relapsed, 88 achieved remission and continued to study completion, and 156 were terminated from the study for other reasons. Significant clinical predictors of treatment failure (p < 0.05) included baseline anxiety symptoms, functional impairments, negative life events and lifetime clinical features such as a history of migraine, suicidal ideation/attempts, and mixed episodes, as well as a chronic course of illness. Conclusions In this PGBD Study of lithium response, several clinical features were found to be associated with failure to respond to lithium. Future validation is needed to confirm these clinical predictors of treatment failure and their use clinically to distinguish who will do well on lithium before starting pharmacotherapy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Focal adhesion is associated with lithium response in bipolar disorder: evidence from a network-based multi-omics analysis
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Niemsiri, Vipavee; Rosenthal, Sara Brin; Nievergelt, Caroline M.; Maihofer, Adam X.; Marchetto, Maria C.; Santos, Renata; Shekhtman, Tatyana; Alliey-Rodriguez, Ney; Anand, Amit; Balaraman, Yokesh; Berrettini, Wade H.; Bertram, Holli; Burdick, Katherine E.; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Calkin, Cynthia V.; Conroy, Carla; Coryell, William H.; DeModena, Anna; Eyler, Lisa T.; Feeder, Scott; Fisher, Carrie; Frazier, Nicole; Frye, Mark A.; Gao, Keming; Garnham, Julie; Gershon, Elliot S.; Goes, Fernando S.; Goto, Toyomi; Harrington, Gloria J.; Jakobsen, Petter; Kamali, Masoud; Kelly, Marisa; Leckband, Susan G.; Lohoff, Falk W.; McCarthy, Michael J.; McInnis, Melvin G.; Craig, David; Millett, Caitlin E.; Mondimore, Francis; Morken, Gunnar; Nurnberger, John I.; O'Donovan, Claire; Øedegaard, Ketil J.; Ryan, Kelly; Schinagle, Martha; Shilling, Paul D.; Slaney, Claire; Stapp, Emma K.; Stautland, Andrea; Tarwater, Bruce; Zandi, Peter P.; Alda, Martin; Fisch, Kathleen M.; Gage, Fred H.; Kelsoe, John R.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Lithium (Li) is one of the most effective drugs for treating bipolar disorder (BD), however, there is presently no way to predict response to guide treatment. The aim of this study is to identify functional genes and pathways that distinguish BD Li responders (LR) from BD Li non-responders (NR). An initial Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder study (PGBD) GWAS of lithium response did not provide any significant results. As a result, we then employed network-based integrative analysis of transcriptomic and genomic data. In transcriptomic study of iPSC-derived neurons, 41 significantly differentially expressed (DE) genes were identified in LR vs NR regardless of lithium exposure. In the PGBD, post-GWAS gene prioritization using the GWA-boosting (GWAB) approach identified 1119 candidate genes. Following DE-derived network propagation, there was a highly significant overlap of genes between the top 500- and top 2000-proximal gene networks and the GWAB gene list (Phypergeometric = 1.28E-09 and 4.10E-18, respectively). Functional enrichment analyses of the top 500 proximal network genes identified focal adhesion and the extracellular matrix (ECM) as the most significant functions. Our findings suggest that the difference between LR and NR was a much greater effect than that of lithium. The direct impact of dysregulation of focal adhesion on axon guidance and neuronal circuits could underpin mechanisms of response to lithium, as well as underlying BD. It also highlights the power of integrative multi-omics analysis of transcriptomic and genomic profiling to gain molecular insights into lithium response in BD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Lithium alters expression of RNAs in a type-specific manner in differentiated human neuroblastoma neuronal cultures, including specific genes involved in Alzheimer’s disease
    (Nature Research, 2019-12-04) Maloney, Bryan; Balaraman, Yokesh; Liu, Yunlong; Chopra, Nipun; Edenberg, Howard J.; Kelsoe, John; Nurnberger, John I.; Lahiri, Debomoy K.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Lithium (Li) is a medication long-used to treat bipolar disorder. It is currently under investigation for multiple nervous system disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While perturbation of RNA levels by Li has been previously reported, its effects on the whole transcriptome has been given little attention. We, therefore, sought to determine comprehensive effects of Li treatment on RNA levels. We cultured and differentiated human neuroblastoma (SK-N-SH) cells to neuronal cells with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). We exposed cultures for one week to lithium chloride or distilled water, extracted total RNA, depleted ribosomal RNA and performed whole-transcriptome RT-sequencing. We analyzed results by RNA length and type. We further analyzed expression and protein interaction networks between selected Li-altered protein-coding RNAs and common AD-associated gene products. Lithium changed expression of RNAs in both non-specific (inverse to sequence length) and specific (according to RNA type) fashions. The non-coding small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) were subject to the greatest length-adjusted Li influence. When RNA length effects were taken into account, microRNAs as a group were significantly less likely to have had levels altered by Li treatment. Notably, several Li-influenced protein-coding RNAs were co-expressed or produced proteins that interacted with several common AD-associated genes and proteins. Lithium’s modification of RNA levels depends on both RNA length and type. Li activity on snoRNA levels may pertain to bipolar disorders while Li modification of protein coding RNAs may be relevant to AD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Variants in Ion Channel Genes Link Phenotypic Features of Bipolar Illness to Specific Neurobiological Process Domains
    (Karger, 2015-05) Balaraman, Yokesh; Lahiri, Debomoy K.; Nurnberger, John I.; Department of Psychiatry, IU School of Medicine
    Recent advances in genome-wide association studies are pointing towards a major role for voltage-gated ion channels in neuropsychiatric disorders and, in particular, bipolar disorder (BD). The phenotype of BD is complex, with symptoms during mood episodes and deficits persisting between episodes. We have tried to elucidate the common neurobiological mechanisms associated with ion channel signaling in order to provide a new perspective on the clinical symptoms and possible endophenotypes seen in BD patients. We propose a model in which the multiple variants in genes coding for ion channel proteins would perturb motivational circuits, synaptic plasticity, myelination, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function, circadian neuronal rhythms, and energy regulation. These changes in neurobiological mechanisms would manifest in endophenotypes of aberrant reward processing, white matter hyperintensities, deficits in executive function, altered frontolimbic connectivity, increased amygdala activity, increased melatonin suppression, decreased REM latency, and aberrant myo-inositol/ATP shuttling. The endophenotypes result in behaviors of poor impulse control, motivational changes, cognitive deficits, abnormal stress response, sleep disturbances, and energy changes involving different neurobiological process domains. The hypothesis is that these disturbances start with altered neural circuitry during development, following which multiple environmental triggers may disrupt the neuronal excitability balance through an activity-dependent molecular process, resulting in clinical mood episodes.