Kenneth Blum

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Kenneth Blum (born August 8, 1939) is an American scientist who has studied neuropsychopharmacology and genetics. Until 1995 he was a professor of pharmacology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Contents

Blum originated the term "reward deficiency syndrome". There is no consensus among addiction researchers that empirical evidence exists to justify such a concept. [1] He holds multiple patents relating to genetic testing and treatment for the supposed syndrome that have been licensed through various different corporations.

Academic background

Blum received his B.S. in pharmacy from Columbia University in 1961, his M.S. in medical science in 1965 from the New Jersey College of Medicine, and his Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1968 from the New York Medical College. Blum completed post-doctorate research in psychopharmacology at the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education. He also completed a fellowship in pharmacogenetics under Gerald McClearn at the University of Colorado College of Pharmacy (Boulder) in 1977. He retired in 1995 from his position as professor at the Department of Pharmacology, Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, University of Texas.

Research

Blum collaborated on a study that found a correlation between an allele in the dopamine D2 receptor and alcoholism in a post-mortem study of brain tissue from 35 alcoholics and 35 non-alcoholics. [2] Blum believed his work to be of broader scope, calling this gene a "reward gene" which covers other addictive behaviors including drug addiction, smoking, overeating, and pathological gambling. [3]

Reward deficiency syndrome

Blum originated the concept of reward deficiency syndrome (RDS) in 1996. [4] The term refers to an inborn chemical imbalance that alters the intercellular signaling in the brain's reward process and can manifest itself as one or more behavioral disorders.[ citation needed ] This syndrome claims to involve a form of sensory deprivation of the brain's pleasure mechanisms that can be expressed in relatively mild or severe forms, which result an inability to derive reward from ordinary, every day activities.[ citation needed ] The term has been applied to a wide variety of addictive, obsessive and compulsive behaviors including substance and process addictions, personality and spectrum disorders. [5] [6] There is no consistent evidence to validate any such syndrome. [1] "Reward deficiency syndrome" is not a medically recognized disorder: [7] The diagnostic validity of RDS has not been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in its diagnostic manual, the DSM.

Commercial activities

Blum is the editor-in-chief of Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome and Addiction Science and founded the company that publishes it, United Scientific Group. [8] [9] Blum was also editor-in-chief of OMICS Publication Group's Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy (JART) from 2013 to 2015. [10] [11] Both United Scientific Group and OMICS Group are featured on Beall's list [12] and are widely regarded as predatory open-access publishers. [13]

Blum has received patents for the use of dietary supplements to treat RDS. [14] [15] [16] Blum licenses these patents through his company Synaptamine, Inc., which is incorporated in Austin, Texas. [17] Supplements marketed in this way include Synaptamine, SyntaptaGenX, and Synaptose. Synaptamine has been licensed to LaVita RDS, a company based in Lehi, Utah, of which Blum was the chief scientific officer. [13] Synaptamine was subsequently marketed by Sanus Biotech, a company based in Austin, Texas. SynaptaGenX is licensed to NuPathways Inc., for whom Blum acts as chief neuroscience advisor. [18] Blum has also marketed dietary supplements that claim to assist weight loss, including PhenCal (licensed to Weider Nutrition) and SyntaptaLean (licensed to Nature's Plus). In the past, Blum has sold a variety of supplements and oral sprays through a website called DocBlumInc.

Blum markets a genetic test, the Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS), through his company IGENE LLC in partnership with Dominion Diagnostics, [19] [17] [20] through LifeGen, Inc., where he is chairman of the board and chief scientific officer, [21] and via Geneus Health for whom he also acts chief scientific officer and chairman. [22] It is claimed that GARS assesses the genetic predisposition toward RDS. [20]

Until 2008 he was chief scientific officer of Salugen Inc., another direct-to-consumer genetics testing company. [23] After Blum's departure, Salugen continued under the leadership of Brian Meshkin, latterly CEO of Prove Biosciences, until its demise a year later. [24] Blum is Scientific Director of the PATH foundation. [25]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dopamine</span> Organic chemical that functions both as a hormone and a neurotransmitter

Dopamine is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine constitutes about 80% of the catecholamine content in the brain. It is an amine synthesized by removing a carboxyl group from a molecule of its precursor chemical, L-DOPA, which is synthesized in the brain and kidneys. Dopamine is also synthesized in plants and most animals. In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons to send signals to other nerve cells. Neurotransmitters are synthesized in specific regions of the brain, but affect many regions systemically. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior. The anticipation of most types of rewards increases the level of dopamine in the brain, and many addictive drugs increase dopamine release or block its reuptake into neurons following release. Other brain dopamine pathways are involved in motor control and in controlling the release of various hormones. These pathways and cell groups form a dopamine system which is neuromodulatory.

The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventral striatum includes the nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nucleus accumbens</span> Region of the basal forebrain

The nucleus accumbens is a region in the basal forebrain rostral to the preoptic area of the hypothalamus. The nucleus accumbens and the olfactory tubercle collectively form the ventral striatum. The ventral striatum and dorsal striatum collectively form the striatum, which is the main component of the basal ganglia. The dopaminergic neurons of the mesolimbic pathway project onto the GABAergic medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. Each cerebral hemisphere has its own nucleus accumbens, which can be divided into two structures: the nucleus accumbens core and the nucleus accumbens shell. These substructures have different morphology and functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dopamine receptor</span> Class of G protein-coupled receptors

Dopamine receptors are a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are prominent in the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS). Dopamine receptors activate different effectors through not only G-protein coupling, but also signaling through different protein interactions. The neurotransmitter dopamine is the primary endogenous ligand for dopamine receptors.

Motivational salience is a cognitive process and a form of attention that motivates or propels an individual's behavior towards or away from a particular object, perceived event or outcome. Motivational salience regulates the intensity of behaviors that facilitate the attainment of a particular goal, the amount of time and energy that an individual is willing to expend to attain a particular goal, and the amount of risk that an individual is willing to accept while working to attain a particular goal.

Substance dependence, also known as drug dependence, is a biopsychological situation whereby an individual's functionality is dependent on the necessitated re-consumption of a psychoactive substance because of an adaptive state that has developed within the individual from psychoactive substance consumption that results in the experience of withdrawal and that necessitates the re-consumption of the drug. A drug addiction, a distinct concept from substance dependence, is defined as compulsive, out-of-control drug use, despite negative consequences. An addictive drug is a drug which is both rewarding and reinforcing. ΔFosB, a gene transcription factor, is now known to be a critical component and common factor in the development of virtually all forms of behavioral and drug addictions, but not dependence.

Sexual addiction is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The concept is contentious; as of 2023, sexual addiction is not a clinical diagnosis in either the DSM or ICD medical classifications of diseases and medical disorders, which instead categorize such behaviors under labels such as compulsive sexual behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caffeine dependence</span> Medical condition

Caffeine dependence is a condition characterized by a set of criteria, including tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to control use, and continued use despite knowledge of adverse consequences attributed to caffeine. It can appear in physical dependence or psychological dependence, or both. Caffeine is one of the most common additives in many consumer products, including pills and beverages such as caffeinated alcoholic beverages, energy drinks, pain reliever medications, and colas. Caffeine is found naturally in various plants such as coffee and tea. Studies have found that 89 percent of adults in the U.S. consume on average 200 mg of caffeine daily. One area of concern that has been presented is the relationship between pregnancy and caffeine consumption. Repeated caffeine doses of 100 mg appeared to result in smaller size at birth in newborns. When looking at birth weight however, caffeine consumption did not appear to make an impact.

Sensitization is a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response. Sensitization often is characterized by an enhancement of response to a whole class of stimuli in addition to the one that is repeated. For example, repetition of a painful stimulus may make one more responsive to a loud noise.

An addictive behavior is a behavior, or a stimulus related to a behavior, that is both rewarding and reinforcing, and is associated with the development of an addiction. There are two main forms of addiction: substance use disorders and behavioral addiction. The parallels and distinctions between behavioral addictions and other compulsive behavior disorders like bulimia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are still being researched by behavioral scientists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reward system</span> Group of neural structures responsible for motivation and desire

The reward system is a group of neural structures responsible for incentive salience, associative learning, and positively-valenced emotions, particularly ones involving pleasure as a core component. Reward is the attractive and motivational property of a stimulus that induces appetitive behavior, also known as approach behavior, and consummatory behavior. A rewarding stimulus has been described as "any stimulus, object, event, activity, or situation that has the potential to make us approach and consume it is by definition a reward". In operant conditioning, rewarding stimuli function as positive reinforcers; however, the converse statement also holds true: positive reinforcers are rewarding.The reward system motivates animals to approach stimuli or engage in behaviour that increases fitness. Survival for most animal species depends upon maximizing contact with beneficial stimuli and minimizing contact with harmful stimuli. Reward cognition serves to increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction by causing associative learning, eliciting approach and consummatory behavior, and triggering positively-valenced emotions. Thus, reward is a mechanism that evolved to help increase the adaptive fitness of animals. In drug addiction, certain substances over-activate the reward circuit, leading to compulsive substance-seeking behavior resulting from synaptic plasticity in the circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOSB</span> Protein

Protein fosB, also known as FosB and G0/G1 switch regulatory protein 3 (G0S3), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (FOSB) gene.

Behavioral addiction, process addiction, or non-substance-related disorder is a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-substance-related behavior – sometimes called a natural reward – despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being. In the brain's reward system, a gene transcription factor known as ΔFosB has been identified as a necessary common factor involved in both behavioral and drug addictions, which are associated with the same set of neural adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dopamine dysregulation syndrome</span> Neuralogical disorder caused by long-term use of dopaminergic drugs

Dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS) is a dysfunction of the reward system observed in some individuals taking dopaminergic medications for an extended length of time. It is characterized by severely disinhibited patterns of behavior, leading to problems such as addiction to the offending medication, gambling addiction, or compulsive sexual behavior, along with a general orientation towards immediate gratification. It typically occurs in people with Parkinson's disease or restless legs syndrome (RLS) who have taken dopamine agonist medications for an extended period of time.

An addictive personality refers to a hypothesized set of personality traits that make an individual predisposed to developing addictions. This hypothesis states that there may be common personality traits observable in people suffering from addiction; however, the lack of a universally agreed upon definition has marked the research surrounding addictive personality. Addiction is a fairly broad term; it is most often associated with substance use disorders, but it can also be extended to cover a number of other compulsive behaviors, including sex, internet, television, gambling, food, and shopping. Within these categories of addiction a common diagnostic scale involves tolerance, withdrawal, and cravings. This is a fairly contentious topic, with many experts suggesting the term be retired due to a lack of cumulative evidence supporting the existence of addictive personality. It has been claimed that characteristics of personality attributed to addictive personality do not predict addiction, but rather can be the result of addiction. However, different personality traits have been linked to various types of addictive behaviors, suggesting that individual addictions may be associated with different personality profiles. The strongest consensus is that genetic factors play the largest role in determining a predisposition for addictive behaviors. Even then, however, genes play different roles in different types of addictions. Forty to seventy percent of the population variance in the expression of addictions can be explained by genetic factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addiction</span> Disorder resulting in compulsive behaviours

Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use often alters brain function in ways that perpetuate craving, and weakens self-control. This phenomenon – drugs reshaping brain function – has led to an understanding of addiction as a brain disorder with a complex variety of psychosocial as well as neurobiological factors that are implicated in addiction's development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANKK1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing 1 (ANKK1) also known as protein kinase PKK2 or sugen kinase 288 (SgK288) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ANKK1 gene. The ANKK1 is a member of an extensive family of the Ser/Thr protein kinase family, and protein kinase superfamily involved in signal transduction pathways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark S. Gold</span>

Mark S. Gold is an American physician, professor, author, and researcher on the effects of opioids, cocaine, tobacco, and other drugs as well as food on the brain and behavior. He is married to Janice Finn Gold.

Addiction vulnerability is an individual's risk of developing an addiction during their lifetime. There are a range of genetic and environmental risk factors for developing an addiction that vary across the population. Genetic and environmental risk factors each account for roughly half of an individual's risk for developing an addiction; the contribution from epigenetic risk factors to the total risk is unknown. Even in individuals with a relatively low genetic risk, exposure to sufficiently high doses of an addictive drug for a long period of time can result in an addiction. In other words, anyone can become an individual with a substance use disorder under particular circumstances. Research is working toward establishing a comprehensive picture of the neurobiology of addiction vulnerability, including all factors at work in propensity for addiction.

References

  1. 1 2 Leyton, Marco (1 September 2014). "What's deficient in reward deficiency?". Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience. 39 (5). Joule Inc.: 291–293. doi:10.1503/jpn.140204. ISSN   1180-4882. PMC   4160357 . PMID   25162147.
  2. ↑ Blum, Kenneth; Noble, Ernest; Peter J. Sheridan; Anne Montgomery; Terry Ritchie; Pudur Jagadeeswaran; Harou Nogami; Arthur H. Briggs; Jay B. Cohn (April 18, 1990). "Allelic Association of Human Dopamine D2 Receptor Gene in Alcoholism". Journal of the American Medical Association . 263 (15): 2055–60. doi:10.1001/jama.1990.03440150063027. ISSN   1538-3598. PMID   1969501.
  3. ↑ Comings, David E.; Blum, Kenneth (2000). "Reward deficiency syndrome: genetic aspects of behavioral disorders". Progress in Brain Research . 126: 325–41. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(00)26022-6. ISBN   9780444503329. PMID   11105655.
  4. ↑ Blum, K; Sheridan, P J; Wood, R C; Braverman, E R; Chen, T J H; phd, J G Cull; Comings, D E (July 1996). "The D 2 Dopamine Receptor Gene as a Determinant of Reward Deficiency Syndrome". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 89 (7): 396–400. doi:10.1177/014107689608900711. ISSN   0141-0768. PMC   1295855 . PMID   8774539.
  5. ↑ "When the Thrill is Gone: Reward Deficiency Syndrome".
  6. ↑ Blum, Kenneth G.; Cull, John R.; Braverman, Eric E.; Comings, David (1996). "Reward Deficiency Syndrome". American Scientist. 84 (2): 132. Bibcode:1996AmSci..84..132B.
  7. ↑ Barrett, Stephen; Hall, Harriet (24 November 2008). "Dubious Genetic Testing". Quackwatch. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Management". United Scientific Group. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome and Addiction Science". Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome and Addiction Science. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dr. Kenneth Blum Resigns Position At OMICS Group To Focus On Innovative New Journals". PROLOG Press Release Distribution. Prolog.org. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "Kenneth Blum Appointed as Editor-in-Chief of OMICS Group's Open-Access Medical Journal: Addiction Research & Therapy". PR Newswire. 14 Aug 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Beall's List of Predatory Journals and Publishers". Beall's List. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  13. 1 2 "The Strange World of "Reward Deficiency Syndrome" (Part 3)". 17 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Allelic polygene diagnosis of reward deficiency syndrome and treatment". Google Patents. 29 April 1997. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "Diagnosis and treatment system for "reward deficiency syndrome" (RDS) and related behaviors". Google Patents. 4 August 1999. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Anti-RDS compounds and method of manufacture and administration thereof to induce dopamine homeostatis". Google Patents. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  17. 1 2 "Dominion Diagnostics Chief Scientific Advisor Kenneth Blum, PhD Receives 2014 ASAM Medical-Scientific Program Committee Award for Best Scientific Abstract". PR Newswire. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "SynaptaGenX: Addiction Recovery". SynaptaGenX. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "Kenneth Blum, PhD". Dominion Diagnostics. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  20. 1 2 "Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS): Molecular Neurogenetic Evidence for Predisposition to Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS)". Dominion Diagnostics. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Russell Armstrong and Crescent Financial Partners Retained by LifeGen, Inc: Patent-Holder for Neuroadaptogen Technology". Business Wire. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "Kenneth Blum, B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD, DHL, Chief Scientific Officer & Chairman". Geneus Health. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Kenneth Blum, PhD, Resigns from Salugen, Inc. As Chief Scientific Officer and Vice Chairman of The Board Of Directors", 24-7 Press, September 10, 2008, retrieved 17 September 2010
  24. ↑ "The Salugen Story Reconstructed". Tales of Two Cities. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "Foundation Staff". PATH Foundation. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
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