Self-esteem in remitted patients with mood disorders is not associated with the dopamine receptor D4 and the serotonin transporter genes.
Disturbances of the dopaminergic and serotoninergic neurotransmitter systems have been implicated in the pathogenesis of depressive symptoms. Associations have been reported between markers of the two neurotransmitter systems and the presence of illness or severity of depressive episodes, but no attention has been focused on the periods of remission. The present report focuses on a possible association of self-esteem in remitted mood disorder patients with the functional polymorphism located in the upstream regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4). Inpatients (N=162) affected by bipolar (n=103) and unipolar (n=59) disorder (DSM III-R) were assessed by the Self-Esteem Scale (SES, Rosenberg, 1965) and were typed for DRD4 and 5-HTTLPR (n=58 subjects) variants at the third exon using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. Neither DRD4 nor 5-HTTLPR variants were associated with SES scores, and consideration of possible stratification effects such as sex and psychiatric diagnosis did not reveal any association either. The serotonin transporter and dopamine receptor D4 genes do not, therefore, influence self-esteem in remitted mood disorder subjects.
Serretti
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Istituto Scientifico H. San Raffaele, Department of Neuroscience, University of Milan, School of Medicine, Milano, Italy. serretti.alessandro@mail.hsr.it
Macciardi
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Di Bella
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Catalano
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Smeraldi
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D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4; D012649:Self Concept; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
D002352:Carrier Proteins; C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4