Genetic linkage of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on chromosome 16p13, in a region implicated in autism.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in childhood and likely represents an extreme of normal behavior. ADHD significantly impacts learning in school-age children and leads to impaired functioning throughout the life span. There is strong evidence for a genetic etiology of the disorder, although putative alleles, principally in dopamine-related pathways suggested by candidate-gene studies, have very small effect sizes. We use affected-sib-pair analysis in 203 families to localize the first major susceptibility locus for ADHD to a 12-cM region on chromosome 16p13 (maximum LOD score 4.2; P=.000005), building upon an earlier genomewide scan of this disorder. The region overlaps that highlighted in three genome scans for autism, a disorder in which inattention and hyperactivity are common, and physically maps to a 7-Mb region on 16p13. These findings suggest that variations in a gene on 16p13 may contribute to common deficits found in both ADHD and autism.
Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 90024USA. ssmalley@mednet.ucla.edu
Susan L
SL
Smalley
Vlad
V
Kustanovich
Sonia L
SL
Minassian
Jennifer L
JL
Stone
Matthew N
MN
Ogdie
James J
JJ
McGough
James T
JT
McCracken
I Laurence
IL
MacPhie
Clyde
C
Francks
Simon E
SE
Fisher
Rita M
RM
Cantor
Anthony P
AP
Monaco
Stanley F
SF
Nelson
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000235:genetics*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002885:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 16; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male