Dr. Redei Genetic Epigenetic Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Dr. Eva E. Redei, PhD, David Lawrence Stein Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues, reported their findings in the FASEB Journal.  The manuscript, titled “Strain-specific vulnerability to alcohol exposure in utero via hippocampal parent-of-origin expression of deiodinase-III“, describes a unique mechanism of vulnerability to the debilitating effects of alcohol in utero using an animal model. It is part of Dr. Redei’s NIH-funded study (http://psychiatry.northwestern.edu/news/dr-redei-niaaa-study-genetic-imprinting-fasd/).

“By identifying a parent of origin effect in how the thyroid hormone metabolizing gene is involved in producing fetal alcohol-related deficits, we have opened a new possibility for biological treatment options, which currently do not exist”, said Laura Sittig, the first author of the study and a graduate student in Redei’s lab.

The paper received attention at a variety of health-related websites, including Northwestern’s http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/news/2011J-March/Alcohol_Pregnancy.html and outside media including Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=moms-genetics-contributes-to-fetal-11-03-23).