title: Polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene of patients with atopic dermatitis-association with personality traits related to high level of anxiety.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD) are often aggravated by anxiety, and the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) has been shown to be of importance in this context. Three polymorphisms affecting transcription of this gene are known: a repetitive element, in the promoter region (5HTTLPR), a variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) within intron 2 referred to as STin2, and a single-nucleotide (A/G) polymorphism (SNP) located within the 5-HTTLPR.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine for possible relationships between these polymorphisms and aggravation of AD by stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three patients with a history of such aggravation, together with 33 age- and gendermatched healthy control subjects, were recruited. The Karolinska Scales of Personality questionnaire was employed to evaluate anxiety-related personality traits and genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples and analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although the prevalence of the short and long alleles of 5-HTTLPR did not differ between the patients and healthy controls, there was a tendency towards high prevalence of the short (10-copy) variant of STin2 among the patients. When the study population was further analysed by subdivision into subgroups all AD patients with high- anxiety traits carried the short variant of STin2. In the corresponding healthy control group, the prevalences of the 10-and 12-copy variants were 62% and 38%, respectively (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate a possible association between the 10-copy variant of STin2 and aggravation of AD by anxiety.
authors: Dermatology and Venereology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. sasika@demel.se
authors: Sasika
authors: S
authors: de Mel
authors: Klas
authors: K
authors: Nordlind
authors: Mikael
authors: M
authors: Holst
authors: Margareta
authors: M
authors: Frohm-Nilsson
authors: Sol-Britt
authors: SB
authors: Lonne-Rahm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics*; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins