These findings are the first to demonstrate that AKT1 mediates the acute response to cannabis in otherwise healthy individuals and implicate the AKT1 pathway as a possible target for prevention and treatment of cannabis psychosis.
Moreover, AKT1 risk alleles may increase the incidence of cannabis use in patients with a psychotic disorder, but AKT1 does not appear to mediate the effect of cannabis on BMI.
Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Catechol-O-Methyltransferase and Serine-Threonine Protein Kinase Genes in the Pakistani Schizophrenic Population: A Study with Special Emphasis on Cannabis and Smokeless Tobacco.
Our findings provide strong support for the initial report that genetic variation at rs2494732 of AKT1 influences the risk of developing a psychotic disorder in cannabis users.
Follow-up analysis supported AKT1 rs2494732 × cannabis interaction in the case-only (β = 0.20; P = .007), case-sibling (interaction P = .040), and case-control (interaction P = .057) analyses, with individuals with C/C genotypes having an approximately 2-fold odds of being diagnosed with a psychotic disorder when having used cannabis.
Follow-up analysis supported AKT1rs2494732 × cannabis interaction in the case-only (β = 0.20; P = .007), case-sibling (interaction P = .040), and case-control (interaction P = .057) analyses, with individuals with C/C genotypes having an approximately 2-fold odds of being diagnosed with a psychotic disorder when having used cannabis.
The results suggest that long-term changes in cognition may mediate the risk-increasing effect of the AKT1 × cannabis interaction on psychotic disorder.