A genetic study led by Dr Marta Di Forti from the King’s College
London’s Institute of Psychiatry has provided new evidence that
genetic variation in the AKT1 gene – short for ‘V-akt murine
thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1’ – influences the risk of
developing psychosis in cannabis users. The ability of cannabis
to produce psychosis is an important public health concern. Some
studies have suggested that cannabis exposure during adolescence
may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. For these
reasons, it would be valuable if a biological test could be
developed that predicted the risk of developing psychosis in
people who abuse cannabis or use marijuana as a medication. A
recent study has implicated a variation in the gene that codes
for a protein called RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase
in the risk for cannabis psychosis. However, independent
verification of these finding is critical for genetic
associations with complex genetic traits, like cannabis-related
psychosis, because these findings ar