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Trial Lecture – time and place
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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Vidar Sandsaunet Ulset, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences
- Second opponent: Senior Researcher Judith Bassols Casadevall, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Girona (IDIBGI), Spain
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Associate Professor Lorena Arranz, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Emeritus Erik Gunnar Jönsson, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Researcher Nur Duale, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Summary
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition, yet the diagnostic process is often lengthy and based solely on observable behavior. Early diagnosis is especially difficult, as it relies heavily on how the parents perceive their child and can be hard to separate from natural developmental processes. This doctoral thesis explores the potential of microRNAs (miRNAs), small molecules that regulate gene expression, as early biological markers for ADHD. The central hypothesis being that miRNA profiles at birth, and parental levels during pregnancy, are associated with later ADHD symptoms and diagnosis.
The research utilized data from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study and the Human Early Life Exposome study. The methodology involved an initial phase to identify candidate miRNAs, followed by a targeted investigation of these markers in children and their parents.
Key findings include seven miRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed at birth in children who later received an ADHD diagnosis compared to controls, while 31 miRNAs were significantly associated with the severity of ADHD symptoms across the study population. A predictive model based on 19 miRNAs was developed, achieving high performance in distinguishing ADHD cases from controls (accuracy = 0.893, AUC = 0.959). Lastly, the study found that parental miRNA levels during pregnancy also were associated with the children’s later symptom pressure.
Overall, these results support the hypothesis that miRNA expression at birth is related to the development of ADHD and later symptom presentation. The findings represent an important step toward developing objective tools for early risk assessment, which could eventually facilitate earlier intervention and improve long-term outcomes for children and their families.
Additional information
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