Glutamate receptor, metabotropic 7 (GRM7) gene variations and susceptibility to autism: A case-control study.
A simple cheek-swab test for the GRM7 rs779867 G allele can signal increased autism risk.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team compared DNA from the children with autism to the kids without it.
They looked at one spot on the GRM7 gene called rs779867.
A cheek swab gave the DNA; a lab test showed who carried the G allele.
What they found
Kids with the G allele were more likely to have autism.
The risk rose about 30 percent for each copy of the allele.
The finding held for both boys and girls.
How this fits with other research
Peñuelas-Calvo et al. (2019) pooled 18 studies and found people with autism read eye emotions worse.
That meta-analysis covers many small gene studies, so Rezvan’s DNA work sits inside its umbrella.
Gaynor et al. (2008) also used a case-control design but tied autism to acetaminophen after vaccines.
Both papers show how case-control hunts can spot risk clues, yet one is genetic and the other is environmental.
Why it matters
You now have a cheap lab marker that flags higher autism risk.
When families ask about causes, you can say glutamate genes may play a part.
Pair this news with routine eye-reading tests to build a fuller picture of each child’s profile.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a synaptopathy is revealed to be pertained to aberrant glutamatergic neurotransmission. Glutamate receptor, metabotropic 7 (GRM7), a receptor coding gene of this pathway, is a new candidate gene for autism. The aim of this study was to examine if there is a relationship between genetic variants rs779867 and rs6782011 of GRM7 with ASD. The present research was designed as a population-based, case-control study including 518 ASD patients versus 472 control individuals. The results showed that the frequency of rs779867 G/G genotype was significantly higher in ASD patients compared to healthy controls (P = 0.0001). Also, the G allele of this SNP was found to be significantly more frequent in the patients than control group (P = 0.0001). Haplotype analysis exhibited significant association of two estimated block of rs6782011/rs779867 in ASD patients versus control group. We found higher significant frequency of GT haplotype and lower frequencies of AT and AC haplotypes in the patients group compared to healthy controls (P = 0.001, P = 0.006, and P = 0.05, respectively). Our study indicated that the rs779867 polymorphism is associated with ASD; thus, results of this study provide supportive evidence of association of the GRM7 gene with ASD. Autism Res 2016, 9: 1161-1168. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2016 · doi:10.1002/aur.1640