Integrative genomics reveals pathogenic mediator of valproate-induced neurodevelopmental disability
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to the anti-seizure medication sodium valproate (VPA) is associated with an increased risk of adverse postnatal neurodevelopmental outcomes, including lowered intellectual ability, autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this study, we aimed to clarify the molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurodevelopmental consequences of gestational VPA exposure using integrative genomics. First, we assessed the effect of gestational VPA on fetal brain gene expression using a validated rat model of valproate teratogenicity that mimics the human scenario of chronic oral valproate treatment during pregnancy at doses which are therapeutically relevant to the treatment of epilepsy. Two different rat strains were studied - inbred Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS), a model of genetic generalized epilepsy, and inbred Non-Epileptic Control rats. Female rats were fed standard chow or VPA mixed in standard chow for 2 weeks prior to conception and then mated with same-strain males. In the VPA-exposed rats maternal oral treatment was continued throughout pregnancy. Fetuses were extracted via C-section on gestational day 21 (one day prior to birth) and fetal brains were snap frozen and genome-wide gene expression data generated. We found that gestational VPA exposure via chronic maternal oral dosing was associated with substantial drug-induced differential gene expression in the pup brains, including dysregulated splicing, and observed that this occurred in the absence of evidence for significant neuronal gain or loss. The functional consequences of VPA-induced gene expression were explored using pathway analysis and integration with genetic risk data for psychiatric disease and behavioural traits. The set of genes down-regulated by VPA in the pup brains were significantly enriched for pathways related to neurodevelopment and synaptic function, and significantly enriched for heritability to human intelligence, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Our results provide a mechanistic link between chronic fetal VPA exposure and neurodevelopmental disability mediated by VPA-induced transcriptional dysregulation.
Date Issued
2022-11
Date Acceptance
2022-08-03
Citation
Brain: a journal of neurology, 2022, 145 (11), pp.3832-3842
ISSN
0006-8950
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
3832
End Page
3842
Journal / Book Title
Brain: a journal of neurology
Volume
145
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact
journals.permissions@oup.com
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact
journals.permissions@oup.com
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36071595
PII: 6693896
Grant Number
MR/S02638X/1
EP/V520354/1
Subjects
disability
gene expression
neurodevelopment
valproate
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2022-09-08