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Short Allele (short + allele)
Selected AbstractsThe serotonin transporter 5-HTTPR polymorphism is associated with current and lifetime depression in persons with chronic psychotic disordersACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2 2009J. Contreras Objective:, Variation in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) promoter region has been shown to influence depression in persons who have been exposed to a number of stressful life events. Method:, We evaluated whether genetic variation in 5-HTTLPR, influences current depression, lifetime history of depression and quantitative measures of depression in persons with chronic psychotic disorders. This is an association study of a genetic variant with quantitative and categorical definitions of depression conducted in the southwest US, Mexico and Costa Rica. We analyzed 260 subjects with a history of psychosis, from a sample of 129 families. Results:, We found that persons carrying at least one short allele had a statistically significant increased lifetime risk for depressive syndromes (P < 0.02, odds ratio 2.18, 95% CI 1.10,4.20). Conclusion:, The ,ss' or ,sl' genotype at the 5-HTTLPR promoter polymorphic locus increases the risk of psychotic individuals to develop major depression during the course of their illness. [source] Loneliness in adolescence: gene × environment interactions involving the serotonin transporter geneTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 7 2010Eeske Van Roekel Background:, Loneliness is assumed to peak in early adolescence and to decrease throughout middle and late adolescence, but longitudinal confirmation of this tendency is lacking. Behavioral genetic studies with twin designs have found a significant genetic component for loneliness in children and adults, but no molecular genetic studies have been conducted to reveal the functional polymorphisms involved. Methods:, Associations among the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), sex, parental support, and loneliness were examined in a longitudinal study spanning five annual waves (N = 306). Results:, Using latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), loneliness was found to be highest in early adolescence and slowly declined throughout adolescence. The 5-HTTLPR genotype was related to the development of loneliness, in that short allele carriers remained stable in loneliness over time, whereas adolescents with the long-long genotype decreased in loneliness. Interactions were found between maternal support and 5-HTTLPR genotype, showing that adolescents who perceived little support from their mothers and carried a short allele were at increased risk for developing loneliness. Conclusions:, Our study is the first to chart adolescent loneliness longitudinally and to examine the genetic underpinnings of loneliness. Our results contribute to a further understanding of the environmental and genetic basis of loneliness. Replication of our results is needed in both population-based and clinical samples. [source] Genetic and attachment influences on adolescents' regulation of autonomy and aggressivenessTHE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 11 2009Peter Zimmermann Background:, Adolescence is a time when intense emotions are elicited within the parent,adolescent relationship, often when autonomy subjectively is endangered. As emotion dysregulation is one of the risk processes for the development of psychopathology, adolescence may be perceived as a highly sensitive period for maladjustment. Inter-individual differences in emotionality and emotion regulation have been shown to be influenced or moderated by molecular genetic differences in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) and by attachment patterns. We investigated whether both the 5-HTT and attachment are associated with emotionality and emotion regulation in an observed adolescent,mother interaction and the personality traits aggressiveness and anxiety in adolescence. Methods:, Ninety-one adolescents at age 12 were observed in interaction with their mothers during a standardized emotion-eliciting social task to assess emotionality and emotion regulation in relation to autonomy. Adolescents' aggressiveness and anxiety were assessed by mother report. Concurrent attachment quality was determined by an attachment interview. DNA samples were collected in order to assess the 5-HTTLPR, a repeat polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene. Results:, While the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene was associated with a higher overall rate of autonomy behaviors, attachment security was related to more agreeable and less hostile autonomy. A significant interaction revealed a moderating effect of attachment security. Carriers of the short version of the 5-HTTLPR showed more agreeable autonomy when they had a secure attachment behavior strategy but showed more hostile autonomy when they were insecurely attached. Carriers of the short version of the 5-HTTLPR and insecurely attached adolescents were rated as more aggressive. Conclusions:, The study suggests a gene,attachment interaction in adolescents where the adolescent's attachment status moderates a genetically based higher negative reactivity in response to threats to autonomy in social interactions. [source] Androgen receptor exon 1 CAG repeat length and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in womenHEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Ming-Whei Yu The androgen receptor (AR) gene is localized on chromosome X, and shorter CAG repeats in exon 1 of the AR gene were recently suggested to increase hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk among men. To examine whether the relationship between the AR-CAG repeats and HCC was also evident among women, we conducted a case-control study in Taiwan. The number of AR-CAG repeats was determined for 238 women with HCC and 354 unrelated control subjects (comprising 188 first-degree and 166 nonbiological relatives) selected from female relatives of patients with HCC. Women harboring 2 AR alleles with more than 23 CAG repeats had an increased risk of HCC (age-adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.82; 95% CI, 1.06-3.14), compared with women with only short alleles or a single long allele. The association between harboring 2 AR alleles containing longer CAG repeats and HCC was more striking among HBV carriers (age-adjusted OR for more than 22 repeats, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.14-4.34) and particularly prominent among HBV carriers under age 53 years (age-adjusted OR, 3.16; 95% CI, 1.13-8.82). When CAG repeats were analyzed as a continuous variable, the increase in HCC risk associated with each incremental repeat in the shorter of 2 alleles in a given genotype was statistically significant among women with a first-degree relative with HCC (age-adjusted OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.01-1.37). No such relationship was detected among women without the family history. In conclusion, our observations suggest that the AR-CAG alleles may contribute to HCC predisposition among women through a mechanism different from that for men. [source] Association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene and a severe form of bipolar disorder, but no interaction with the serotonin transporter geneBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 5 2008Ilona Vincze Background:, Recent data suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the serotonergic system are involved and interact in major depressive disorder and suicidal behavior (SB). Several family and population-based studies have reported associations between the BDNF gene and serotonin-related genes, specifically the serotonin transporter (5HTT) gene, with bipolar disorder (BD) and SB. However, despite the fact that gene-by-gene interaction between BDNF and 5HTT has been demonstrated in monoamine deficiencies in animals, this kind of interaction has never been tested in humans. Our hypothesis is that some BDNF and 5HTT polymorphisms might confer increased risk for BD and SB and that both genes may interact with each other. Methods:, To test this hypothesis, we genotyped the most common BDNF polymorphisms, G196A (Val66Met), A-633T and BDNF-LCPR, as well as 5HTT (5HTT-LPR), in 447 BD patients and 370 controls. Results:, We replicated the association previously reported between BDNF G196A (Val66Met) polymorphism and BD. We also observed a correlation between the number of G196 alleles and short alleles of 5HTT-LPR and the severity of SB in BD. However, we found no significant interaction between these two markers. Conclusions:, These results suggest that BDNF G196A as well as 5HTT-LPR polymorphisms confer risk for SB in BD, but we did not observe any evidence for an interaction between them. [source] Parent,Daughter Transmission of the Androgen Receptor Gene as an Explanation of the Effect of Father Absence on Age of MenarcheCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2002David E. Comings Based on an evolutionary theory of socialization, Belsky and colleagues proposed that girls exposed to a stressful environment, especially when due to father absence in the first 7 years of life, showed an early onset of puberty, precocious sexuality, and unstable relationships as adults. The authors of this article examined an alternative explanation that a variant X,linked androgen receptor (AR) gene, predisposing the father to behaviors that include family abandonment, may be passed to their daughters causing early puberty, precocious sexuality, and behavior problems. The results of a study of 121 White males and 164 White females showed a significant association of the short alleles of the GGC repeat polymorphism of the AR gene with a range of measures of aggression and impulsivity, increased number of sexual partners, sexual compulsivity, and lifetime number of sex partners in males; and paternal divorce, father absence, and early age of menarche in females. These findings support a genetic explanation of the Belsky psychosocial evolutionary hypothesis regarding the association of fathers' absence and parental stress with early age of onset of menarche and early sexual activity in their daughters. A genetic explanation of the father absence effect is proposed in which fathers carrying the AR alleles are more likely to abandon a marriage (father absence) and pass those alleles to their daughters in whom they produce an earlier age of menarche and behavioral problems. [source] | |||||||||||||