title: Association study of the norepinephrine transporter gene polymorphisms and bipolar disorder in Han Chinese population.
abstract: Many studies have indicated that the norepinephrine transporter (NET) may play an important role in the mechanisms underlying affective disorders. Thus, the genes of the NET (SLC6A2) are good candidates for research on bipolar disorder (BPD). This study examined whether the NET gene is a susceptibility factor for the BPD in Han Chinese. A promoter -182 T/C polymorphism (rs 2242446) and the exonic polymorphism 1287 G/A (rs 5569) of the NET gene were analysed using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method in 261 BPD patients and 245 unrelated, age- and gender-matched controls. Furthermore, to reduce the clinical heterogeneity, we also carried out analysis in clinical subgroups of bipolar patients defined according to type I and type II BPD, presence or absence of family history of major affective disorders and the age at onset of BPD. No significant difference was found between either bipolar patients or its more homogeneous subgroups and healthy controls in the genotype and allele frequencies for the investigated NET polymorphisms. Our results suggest that the investigated polymorphisms of NET are not major risk factors responsible for predisposition to BPD or its clinical subtypes in Han Chinese. However, replication studies with larger different ethnic samples are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, ROC, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuan-Chia
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ru-Band
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Kuo-Hsing
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hsin-An
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Chih-Lun
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Cheng-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wei-Wen
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: San-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493227:SLC6A2 protein, human