title: Promoter Methylation and BDNF and DAT1 Gene Expression Profiles in Patients with Drug Addiction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drug addiction is a brain disorder that has negative consequences for individuals and society. Addictions are chronic relapsing diseases of the brain that are caused by direct drug-induced effects and persevering neuroadaptations at the epigenetic, neuropeptide and neurotransmitter levels. Because the dopaminergic system has a significant role in drug abuse, the purpose of this study was to analyze the methylation and expression profile of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes in individuals with drug addiction.
  
  
  METHODS
  BDNF and DAT1 promoter methylation were investigated with a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique in blood samples from 75 individuals with drug addiction and 65 healthy controls. The expression levels of BDNF and DAT1 were assessed in 12 mRNA samples from the blood of patients and compared to the samples of healthy controls (n = 12) with real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were found in the methylation of BDNF and DAT1 between patients and controls, but the relative levels of expression of BDNF and DAT1 mRNA differed significantly in the patients compared to controls (p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results showed that the methylation status of the BDNF and DAT1 genes had no significant function in the processes of drug addiction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Dor Mohammad
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kordi-Tamandani
authors.forename: Shahrad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tajoddini
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salimi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019175:DNA Methylation; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055030:Drug Users; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; C579455:BDNF protein, human