title: Family-based association study between brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene polymorphisms and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in UK and Taiwanese samples.
abstract: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in normal neuronal development. Several lines of evidence implicate the involvement of BDNF in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigated the role of two common BDNF variants (Val66Met, C270T) in two samples of ADHD probands from the United Kingdom (n = 180) and Taiwan (n = 212). We found evidence of increased transmission of the C allele of the C270T in Taiwanese samples (TDT: chi(2) = 6.78, P = 0.009) and the two samples pooled together (TDT: chi(2) = 7.24, P = 0.007). No association was found between the Val66Met polymorphism and ADHD in either of the two populations. Analysis of haplotypes demonstrated a significant decreased transmission of haplotypes containing the Val66 allele and the 270T allele in the Taiwanese samples (TDT: chi(2) = 4.57, P = 0.032) and the pooled sample set (TDT: chi(2) = 5.82, P = 0.016). This study provides evidence for the possible involvement of BDNF in susceptibility to ADHD.
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK. x.xu@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mill
authors.forename: Kaixin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Keeley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brookes
authors.forename: Chih-Ken
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asherson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013624:Taiwan; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor