No association between polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene and susceptibility to cocaine dependence among African-American individuals.
Genetic research of cocaine abuse has been relatively limited among the African-American population. Since the serotonin transporter (5HTT) may be involved in modulating effects of cocaine, we investigated whether allelic variants of the 5HTT gene may confer susceptibility to cocaine dependence among African-American individuals. One hundred and fifty-six cocaine-dependent subjects and 82 controls were studied. Polymerase chain reaction-based genotyping of a variable-number-tandem-repeat (VNTR) marker yielded three alleles designated 12, 10 and 9. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared using chi-square analyses. We found no differences between subjects and controls with respect to genotype distribution (cocaine: 12/12 = 50%, 10/12 = 35.3%, 10/10 = 13.5%, 9/12 = 1.3%; controls: 12/12 = 42.7%, 10/12 = 39.0%, 10/10 = 17.1%, 9/12 = 1.2%). Similarly, allele frequencies of the VNTR marker did not differ between the two groups (cocaine: 12 = 68.3%, 10 = 31.1%, 9 = 0.6%; controls: 12 = 62.8%, 10 = 36.6%, 9 = 0.6%). Our findings do not seem to support a relationship between VNTR polymorphisms and cocaine dependence among African-American patients. Further studies involving larger samples are required to confirm our results.
Patkar
Ashwin A
AA
Division of Substance Abuse Programs, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA. ashwin.patkar@mail.tju.edu
Berrettini
Wade H
WH
Hoehe
Margret
M
Hill
Kevin P
KP
Gottheil
Edward
E
Thornton
Charles C
CC
Weinstein
Stephen P
SP
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D017668:Age of Onset; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010414:Pennsylvania; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012016:Reference Values; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins