title: Association study for Parkinson's disease and a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism (1215A/G).
abstract: The dopamine transporter (DAT) may play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) because dopamine-specific neurotoxins are taken into dopaminergic nerve terminals via the DAT. A recent study has demonstrated that a DAT polymorphism in exon 9 (1215A/G) is associated with susceptibility to PD. This finding was not replicated by another study, however. Therefore, the significance of this association was tested using a Chinese sample population consisting of 102 PD patients and 174 controls, together with the association for onset age. Comparing the two groups, neither the genotypic (p = 0.272) nor allelic frequencies (p = 0.209) were statistically different. Further, the mean onset age was not significantly different for PD patients comparing the DAT genotypes (p = 0.925). Our findings confirm those of the previous negative report and, taken together, suggest that the DAT polymorphism (1215A/G) does not play a major role in the susceptibility to PD. Other DAT genetic variants, and the association of these variants with PD symptomatology or treatment response, may merit further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Provisional Chia-Nan Psychiatric Center, Tainan, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chien-Nan
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Hsiu-Chih
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shih-Jen
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Tsung-Yun
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chen-Jee
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human