title: Association of Anxiety Symptoms in Offspring of Bipolar Parents with Serotonin Transporter-Linked Polymorphic Region (5-HTTLPR) Genotype.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (BD) have been shown to be at high risk for BD. Anxiety symptoms, even at subclinical levels, have been associated with increased risk for BD in these youth. The s-allele of the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of both BD and anxiety disorders and has been associated with pharmacological treatment response and increased risk for antidepressant side effects. Therefore, we aimed to explore 1) whether anxiety symptoms in offspring of BD parents were associated with presence of the 5-HTTLPR s-allele and 2) whether anxiety symptoms in the offspring of BD parents according to the 5-HTTLPR genotypes are related to antianxiety medication status.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 64 offspring of BD parents (mean age: 13.7 years) and 51 healthy controls (HC) (mean age: 13.7 years) were compared genetically and on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Offspring of BD parents showed higher levels of overall anxiety than did the HC group. Only antianxiety medication naïve offspring of BD parents were found to have an association between 5-HTTLPR genotypes and anxiety symptoms. The antianxiety medication naïve offspring of BD parents with the s-allele showed higher level of overall anxiety than offspring of BD parents with the l/l genotype. No significant differences in anxiety symptoms or their association with the 5-HTTLPR genotype were found in the HC group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicated that there may be an association between 5-HTTLPR genotypes and anxiety symptoms in offspring of BD parents, and that antianxiety medication status may affect anxiety symptoms in the offspring of BD patients according to genotype.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea , Seoul, St. Mary's Hospital, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Hyeon
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Manpreet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hallmayer
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjoo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Kiki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins