Genes that confer risk for illness are ideal targets for prevention and treatment. So, also, are genes associated with natural or treatment-based RECOVERY from illness. In a search for “recovery genes”, association studies in women who have recovered from eating disorders (ED) vs. those who are still struggling to recover reveals that the C-allele of rs17536211 is associated with recovery.
From Bloss et al.: “Given the substantial genetic component in the etiology of EDs in general, it follows that there may be genetic variants that contribute to the likelihood of recovery.”
“These were women who were over age 25 years, carried a lifetime diagnosis of either AN, BN, or ED-NOS (ie, subthreshold AN or BN), and for whom data were available regarding the presence (n=361 endorsed ongoing ED symptoms in the past year and considered ‘ill’) or absence (n=115 no ED symptoms in the past year and considered ‘recovered’) of ED symptoms.”
“rs17536211, an intronic SNP in GABRG1 on chromosome 4, showed the strongest statistical evidence of association with a GC-corrected p-value of 4.63 × 10−6, which corresponds to an FDR of 0.021 (Figure 1). The odds ratio (OR) observed for this SNP is 0.46, suggesting that possession of copies of the minor allele [C] is protective from long-term chronic illness (ie, it is associated with recovery).”
How might this SNP confer a protective effect? The authors review data on the role of GABRG1 subunits in the un-learning of conditioned fear responses ["GABRG1 subunits are found in the lateral inputs, a region that arises from the intercalated cells masses, and is thought to be responsible for mediating inhibition of amygdala output during extinction of conditioned fear (Likhtik et al, 2008)"] and suggest that individuals with the protective C-alleles may be slightly more able to uncouple eating from a very real and debilitating fear response.
