mental health

WWC1

How Does This Episodic Memory Gene Influence Lifetime and Current PTSD Risk? (WWC1)

Written by John Williams, B.Sc on October 2nd, 2020

PTSD can be the result of your brain’s inability to ‘forget’ certain traumatic memories. The WWC1 gene produces KIBRA, a protein that may play a role in this process. Read on to learn more!

Summary

The WWC1 gene encodes the protein KIBRA, which helps modify the strength of the connections between your nerve cells. Variants of WWC1 may play a role in PTSD by changing your brain’s ability to ‘weaken’ or ‘forget’ certain stored traumatic memories. Lifestyle, diet, and supplement modifications may counteract the effects of these variants by increasing long-term potentiation/synaptic plasticity.

WWC1 and PTSD

The WWC1 gene encodes KIBRA, which stands for ‘kidney and brain expressed protein’. KIBRA plays a role in long-term potentiation, the process where the connections between the neurons in your brain become stronger as you use them more, through its interaction with another protein called protein kinase M-zeta [R].

Certain variants of WWC1 seem to help with episodic memory, the kind of memory where you remember a specific event happening like a birthday party. These variants are also associated with having a bigger hippocampus, which is the part of your brain associated with memory [R].

PTSD is largely due to 1 or more traumatic episodic memories that won’t go away. Long-term potentiation can cause the spaces between neurons, called synapses, to get bigger and thus make your hippocampus bigger as well. It has been theorized that a bigger hippocampus seems to protect against PTSD. This may be because a bigger hippocampus is a result of all of the strengthened connections in your brain and so your episodic memory is less likely to be flawed in some way because brain proteins like KIBRA are working as they should be [R, R].

The opposite is also true: traumatic stress can cause your hippocampus to get smaller. This means that, even if you carry variants that are ‘protective’, a large enough number of traumatic events can cause you to develop PTSD anyway. One study found that each traumatic event increases your lifetime risk of PTSD by 23% [R, R].

Your WWC1 Results for PTSD

SNP Table

variant	genotype	frequency	risk allele
rs17070145
rs10038727
rs4576167

Primary SNP:

WWC1 rs17070145

‘C’ = No association with episodic memory
‘T’ = associated with improved episodic memory (women only); associated with larger volume of hippocampus

The authors of the study on episodic memory predicted that the ‘T’ variant should protect against PTSD since a larger hippocampus has been associated with a reduced risk of PTSD in other studies [R, R].

Other Important SNPs:

WWC1 rs10038727

‘G’ = associated with higher odds of PTSD
‘A’ = associated with decreased risk of current PTSD; associated with decreased risk of lifetime PTSD

WWC1 rs4576167

‘G’ = associated with higher odds of PTSD
‘C’ = associated with decreased risk of current PTSD; associated with decreased risk of lifetime PTSD

The two SNPs above appear to be linked; if you have the ‘G’ variant for one SNP, you probably have it for the other one as well [R].

For both of the above SNPs, the ‘G’ variant was associated with an approximately 2x increased risk of lifetime PTSD and a 3x increased risk of current PTSD [R]

Recommendations

Lifestyle

Physical Exercise

One study found that physical activity seemed to improve episodic memory in aging adults. Multiple animal and human studies have also found a positive association between regular physical exercise and long-term potentiation. Finally, regular physical exercise has also been found to improve PTSD symptoms [R, R, R, R].

The key word is ‘regular’; the studies linked above tended to find connections after the patients had exercised for several months. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t see results immediately.

Regular physical exercise may help with symptoms of PTSD.

Diet

Low-Fat Diet

High fat diets have been associated with problems with synaptic plasticity and long-term potentiation. In a different study, they were also associated with a smaller hippocampus and a higher susceptibility to traumatic stress. In the latter study, the ‘high fat’ Western diet had a bit more than twice as much fat as the healthy diet it was compared to. This seems to suggest that reducing, but not eliminating, fat intake may help with improving the symptoms of and/or reducing the risk of PTSD [R, R].

Reducing the fat content of your diet may make you less susceptible to PTSD.

Supplements

Ashwagandha

An extract containing ashwagandha increased neural connections and levels of BDNF in mice. BDNF is responsible for increasing synaptic plasticity. Another experiment found that ashwagandha protected rats against PTSD-induced memory problems [R, R, R].

While the effects of ashwagandha on PTSD in humans hasn’t been studied much, we have found that the herb is associated with reduced stress and anxiety and seems to improve memory. Taken together, the combination of human and animal experiments suggest a possible role for ashwagandha in improving PTSD symptoms [R, R].

If you have PTSD, consider supplementing with the ashwagandha herb.

John Williams

B.Sc

John received his BSc from the University of Toronto. John has spent the last several years teaching high school science and math to English-language learners, which has forced him to learn how to simplify difficult concepts as much as possible. He has also worked in two different research labs and has experience as a student intern working and studying under doctors in hospitals and clinics to help diagnose and treat patients, interpret lab results and fill out mountains of paperwork.

Disclaimer

The information on this website has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration or any other official medical body. This information is presented for educational purposes only, and may not be used to diagnose or treat any illness or disease.

Also keep in mind that the “Risk Score” presented in this post is based only on a select number of SNPs, and therefore only represents a small portion of your total risk as an individual. Furthermore, these analyses are based primarily on associational studies, which do not necessarily imply causation. Finally, many other (non-genetic) factors can also play a significant role in the development of a disease or health condition — therefore, carrying any of the risk-associated genotypes discussed in this post does not necessarily mean you are at increased risk of developing a major health condition.

Always consult your doctor before acting on any information or recommendations discussed in this post — especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have been officially diagnosed with a medical condition.

More mental health blogs

How to Be a Better Dater (HTR2A) How to Increase Your Chances of a Romantic Relationship (5HT1A) Are You Genetically Vulnerable to High Brain Histamine, Migraines, or ADHD? (HNMT) Protect Yourself Against Stress and Mood Problems with the Oxytocin (OXTR) Gene Beat “Brain Fog” With The Cannabinoid System (CNR1) Boost Your Cognitive Ability By Protecting Your Dopamine Neurons (LMX1A) How Emotionally Self-Aware Are You? (5HT1A) The Gene That Increases Cognitive Processing Speed by Inhibiting Inflammation (NFKBIL1) The Key Dopamine Receptor Gene That Influences Your Intelligence And Creativity (DRD2) How to Increase Intelligence and Enhance Learning (BDNF)

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