Molecular Genetic Testing in Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): Facts and Fiction

Kenneth Blum; Rajendra D Badgaiyan; Gozde Agan; James Fratantonio; Thomas Simpatico; Marcelo Febo; Brett C Haberstick; Andrew Smolen; Mark S Gold

doi:10.17756/jrds.2015-009

Molecular Genetic Testing in Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): Facts and Fiction

J Reward Defic Syndr. 2015;1(1):65-68. doi: 10.17756/jrds.2015-009.

Authors

Kenneth Blum¹, Rajendra D Badgaiyan², Gozde Agan³, James Fratantonio³, Thomas Simpatico⁴, Marcelo Febo⁵, Brett C Haberstick⁶, Andrew Smolen⁶, Mark S Gold⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA ; Department of Addiction Research & Therapy, Malibu Beach Recovery Center, Malibu Beach, CA, USA ; Divisions of Addiction Services, and Applied Clinical Research, Dominion Diagnostics, LLC, North Kingstown, RI, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Human Integrated Services Unit University of Vermont Center for Clinical & Translational Science, College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry and Division of Neuroimaging, University of Minnesota College of Medicine, MN, USA.
³ Divisions of Addiction Services, and Applied Clinical Research, Dominion Diagnostics, LLC, North Kingstown, RI, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Human Integrated Services Unit University of Vermont Center for Clinical & Translational Science, College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁶ Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷ Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Keck, University of Southern California, School of Medicine, CA, USA ; Director of Research, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Educational Foundation, Washington, D.C, USA.

Abstract

Background: The Brain Reward Cascade (BRC) is an interaction of neurotransmitters and their respective genes to control the amount of dopamine released within the brain. Any variations within this pathway, whether genetic or environmental (epigenetic), may result in addictive behaviors or RDS, which was coined to define addictive behaviors and their genetic components.

Methods: To carry out this review we searched a number of important databases including: Filtered: Cochrane Systematic reviews; DARE; Pubmed Central Clinical Quaries; National Guideline Clearinghouse and unfiltered resources: PsychINFO; ACP PIER; PsychSage; Pubmed/Medline. The major search terms included: dopamine agonist therapy for Addiction; dopamine agonist therapy for Reward dependence; dopamine antagonistic therapy for addiction; dopamine antagonistic therapy for reward dependence and neurogenetics of RDS.

Results: While there are many studies claiming a genetic association with RDS behavior, not all are scientifically accurate.

Conclusion: Albeit our bias, this Clinical Pearl discusses the facts and fictions behind molecular genetic testing in RDS and the significance behind the development of the Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS_PREDX™), the first test to accurately predict one's genetic risk for RDS.

Keywords: Brain Reward Cascade; DRD2; Gene variations; Genetic Addiction Risk Score; Reward Deficiency Syndrome.

Abstract

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