title: Serotonin transporter gene and adverse life events in adult ADHD.
abstract: Childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology persists in a substantial proportion of cases into adult life. ADHD is highly heritable but the etiology of ADHD is complex and heterogeneous, involving both genetic and non-genetic factors. In the present article we analyzed the influence of both genetics and adverse life events on severity of ADHD symptoms in 110 adult ADHD patients. Subjects were genotyped for the norepinephrine transporter (NET), the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (SERTPR) and the more rare A/G variant within SERTPR. Three main outcomes were obtained: (1) adverse events showed a small but positive correlation with current ADHD severity; (2) NET, COMT and the A/G variant within SERTPR were not associated with ADHD severity; (3) taking into account stressors, the long (L) SERTPR variant showed a mild effect on ADHD, being associated with an increased severity, particularly as regard affective dysregulations; on the other hand, in subjects exposed to early stressors, it showed a protective effect, as compared to the short (S) variant. In conclusion, our data support the role of environmental factors in adult ADHD symptomatology. SERTPR may be involved in some features of the illness and act as a moderator of environmental influences in ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mandelli
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serretti
authors.forename: Colin G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: DeYoung
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Tricia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sicard
authors.forename: Subi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tharmalingam
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gallinat
authors.forename: Pierandrea
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muglia
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ronchi
authors.forename: Umesh
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000235:genetics*; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012044:Regression Analysis; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase