Acute and Chronic Electroconvulsive Seizures (ECS) Differentially Regulate the Expression of Epigenetic Machinery in the Adult Rat Hippocampus.

Background: Electroconvulsive seizure treatment is a fast-acting antidepressant therapy that evokes rapid transcriptional, neurogenic, and behavioral changes. Epigenetic mechanisms contribute to altered gene regulation, which underlies the neurogenic and behavioral effects of electroconvulsive seizure. We hypothesized that electroconvulsive seizure may modulate the expression of epigenetic machinery, thus establishing potential alterations in the epigenetic landscape.

Early stress evokes dysregulation of histone modifiers in the medial prefrontal cortex across the life span.

Early stress has been hypothesized to recruit epigenetic mechanisms to mediate persistent molecular, cellular, and behavioral changes. Here, we have examined the consequence of the early life stress of maternal separation (ES) on the gene expression of several histone modifiers that regulate histone acetylation and methylation within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a key limbic brain region that regulates stress responses and mood-related behavior. ES animals exhibit gene regulation of both writer (histone acetyltransferases and histone methyltransferases) and eraser (histone deacetylases and histone lysine demethylases) classes of histone modifiers.

Obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome: association with androgens, leptin and its genotypes.

Obesity and hyperandrogenaemia are key features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The aim of this study was to investigate whether leptin and androgens are associated with obesity in PCOS subjects and identify whether there exist any genetic alterations in leptin gene in women with PCOS. The results reveal that leptin levels are elevated in women with PCOS and associate with BMI.

CYP11A1 and CYP17 promoter polymorphisms associate with hyperandrogenemia in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To analyze promoter regions of CYP11A1 and CYP17 for putative variations in a defined group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to study their association with androgen levels.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: A secondary referral center for infertility at National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, India.