title: Associations between catecholaminergic, GABAergic, and serotonergic genes and self-reported attentional function in oncology patients and their family caregivers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate for associations between variations in genes involved in catecholaminergic, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic, and serotonergic mechanisms of neurotransmission and attentional function latent classes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive, longitudinal study was conducted at two radiation therapy departments. The sample included three latent classes of individuals with distinct trajectories of self-reported attentional function during radiation therapy, who were previously identified using growth mixture modeling among 167 oncology patients and 85 of their family caregivers. Multivariable models were used to evaluate for genotypic associations of neurotransmission genes with attentional function latent class membership, after controlling for covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Variations in catecholaminergic (i.e., ADRA1D rs4815675, SLC6A3 rs37022), GABAergic (i.e., SLC6A1 rs2697138), and serotonergic (i.e., HTR2A rs2296972, rs9534496) neurotransmission genes were significant predictors of latent class membership in multivariable models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that variations in genes that encode for three distinct but related neurotransmission systems are involved in alterations in attentional function. Knowledge of both phenotypic and genetic markers associated with alterations in attentional function can be used by clinicians to identify patients and family caregivers who are at higher risk for this symptom. Increased understanding of the genetic markers associated with alterations in attentional function may provide insights into the underlying mechanisms for this significant clinical problem.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: jdm150@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Merriman
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA; Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0794, San Francisco, CA 94143-0794, USA. Electronic address: bradley.aouizerat@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Bradley E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Aouizerat
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: janine.cataldo@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Janine K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Cataldo
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0410, San Francisco, CA 94143-0410, USA. Electronic address: laura.dunn@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Laura B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: kord.kober@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Kord
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kober
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: dale.langford@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Dale J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Langford
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: claudia.west@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: bruce.cooper@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: steven.paul@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0610, San Francisco, CA 94143-0610, USA. Electronic address: chris.miaskowski@nursing.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miaskowski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002140:California; D017028:Caregivers; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D057566:Self Report; D018490:Serotonin Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D016207:Cytokines; D018490:Serotonin Agents; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: Attentional function; Cancer; Catecholamines; Gamma-aminobutyric acid; Neurotransmission; Serotonin