Project description:Opioid abuse poses significant risk to individuals in the United States and epigenetic changes are a leading potential biomarker of opioid abuse. Current evidence, however, is mostly limited to candidate gene analysis in whole blood. Here, we provide Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC array data generated in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex tissue from 153 deceased invidiuals: 72 who died of acute opioid intoxication, 53 psychiatric controls, and 28 normal controls. Using these data, we conducted an epigenome-wide association study and identified one CpG site within a gene (NTN1) that may be related to opioid use. We also detected accelerated PhenoAge in opioid samples compared to control samples.
Project description:To understand the cell-type specific regulatory architectures of diabetes risk, we generated transcriptomic and 3D epigenomic profiles from sorted human pancreatic acinar, alpha, and beta cells using Arima Hi-C.
Project description:Dynamic interactions of neurons and glia in the ventral midbrain (VM) mediate reward and addiction behavior. We studied gene expression in 212,713 VM single nuclei from 95 human opioid overdose cases and drug-free controls. Chronic exposure to opioids left numerical proportions of VM glial and neuronal subtypes unaltered, while broadly affecting glial transcriptomes, involving 9.5 - 6.2% of expressed genes within microglia, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes, with prominent activation of the immune response including interferon, NFkB signaling, and cell motility pathways, sharply contrasting with down-regulated expression of synaptic signaling and plasticity genes in VM non-dopaminergic neurons. VM transcriptomic reprogramming in the context of opioid exposure and overdose included 325 genes with genetic variation linked to substance use traits in the broader population, thereby pointing to heritable risk architectures in the genomic organization of the brain’s reward circuitry.
Project description:Opioids analgesics are frequently prescribed in the United States and worldwide. However, serious side effects such as addiction, immunosuppression and gastrointestinal symptoms limit their use. It has been recently demonstrated that morphine treatment results in significant disruption in gut barrier function leading to increased translocation of gut commensal bacteria. Further study indicated distinct alterations in the gut microbiome and metabolome following morphine treatment, contributing to the negative consequences associated with opioid use. However, it is unclear how opioids modulate gut homeostasis in the context of a hospital acquired bacterial infection. In the current study, a mouse model of C. rodentium infection was used to investigate the role of morphine in the modulation of gut homeostasis in the context of a hospital acquired bacterial infection. Citrobacter rodentium is a natural mouse pathogen that models intestinal infection by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and causes attaching and effacing lesions and colonic hyperplasia. Morphine treatment resulted in 1) the promotion of C. rodentium systemic dissemination, 2) increase in virulence factors expression with C. rodentium colonization in intestinal contents, 3) altered gut microbiome, 4) damaged integrity of gut epithelial barrier function, 5) inhibition of C. rodentium-induced increase in goblet cells, and 6) dysregulated IL-17A immune response. This is the first study to demonstrate that morphine promotes pathogen dissemination in the context of intestinal C. rodentium infection, indicating morphine modulates virulence factor-mediated adhesion of pathogenic bacteria and induces disruption of mucosal host defense during C. rodentium intestinal infection in mice. This study demonstrates and further validates a positive correlation between opioid drug use/abuse and increased risk of infections, suggesting over-prescription of opioids may increase the risk in the emergence of pathogenic strains and should be used cautiously. Therapeutics directed at maintaining gut homeostasis during opioid use may reduce the comorbidities associated with opioid use for pain management.
Project description:Opioid pain-relief and adverse outcomes differ between individuals. We show that runt-related transcription factor 1 (Runx1) is a determinant of opioid responses in humans and rodents and modulates the microglial transcriptome. Electron microscopy and single-cell RNA-sequencing revealed that deletion of Runx1 from microglia produces distinct ultra-structural and transcriptomic signatures. Microglia Runx1-deficient mice have reduced morphine potency, despite having no prior opioid exposure and normal nociceptive thresholds. These mice required greater amounts of post-operative morphine and displayed robust morphine-induced hyperalgesia and exacerbated withdrawal. In humans, genome-wide linkage analyses (GWAS) revealed variations within the Runx1 gene is associated with inter-individual differences in perioperative opioid requirement and opioid withdrawal severity. Identification of Runx1 susceptibility genotypes has implications for individualizing opioid pain management and determining risk of opioid dependence.