Genetic Insights into Cannabis-induced Psychosis: Role of CNR1 Gene Mutation (rs1049353) and Implications- A Cross-sectional Study.

Abstract

Background: Considering the effects of environmental factors and genetic predispositions on mental health outcomes, the current work concentrated on the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1049353 as one of the primary genetic markers for cannabis-induced psychosis (CIP). By analyzing this SNP, the study contributes to the corpus of information to identify genetic traits that ultimately predict the response of an evolving disease following exposure to a particular substance after gene and environmental interaction and risk of a particular disease.

Methods: Grouped by CIP, cannabis use without psychosis, schizophrenia unlinked to cannabis use, and a healthy control group, a thorough investigation was conducted on a cohort of 120 patients at SCB Medical College, Cuttack. Standardized data collection within a cross-sectional study framework included socio-demographic profiles and genetic tests.

Results: Demographic analysis showed no significant differences in education, marital status, religion, occupation, housing, and family type between the groups. Genetic analysis done by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the prevalence of the CNR1 gene polymorphism among CIP patients was found to be 27.3% (95% CI: 12.1%-42.5%) for the heterogeneous allele and 72.7 % (95% CI: 57.5%-87.9%) for the homogenous allele. CIP patients showed a significant rise in homogenous allele expression in comparison to schizophrenia cases (p value: <.01; chi-square test).

Conclusions: The study found that a major contribution to the CIP risk in the CNR1 gene is an SNP, rs1049353. This result helps justify the need to include genetic elements in individual risk of developing a particular disease by linking gene and environmental interaction in cannabis related psychosis and accordingly the treatment plans and public health policy.