title: Environmental and genetic determinants of childhood depression: The roles of DAT1 and the antenatal environment.
abstract: Research on adolescent and adult populations has linked depression to variation in several monoaminergic genes, but genetic association studies on depression in children are limited. Additionally, few studies have investigated whether stressors occurring very early in development moderate the influence of certain genes on depression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from monoaminergic genes interacted with measures of early life stress to influence depressive symptoms in children. Participants were members of the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative cohort. Small for gestational age (SGA) and maternal stress during pregnancy were measured at birth and used as indicators of early life stress. At age 11, depressive symptoms were measured using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) and DNA samples were collected for genotyping. A two-way ANOVA revealed that SGA and a SNP from the dopamine transporter gene DAT1 had an interactive effect on children's depressive symptoms. Specifically, symptoms were greater in children born SGA who are T homozygous for the rs1042098 SNP. These findings suggest that adverse intrauterine environments leading to low birth weight also seem to exacerbate the effects of certain DAT1 variants on depression.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: sdso012@aucklanduni.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: j.thompson@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: John M D
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: RSlykerman@adhb.govt.nz.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slykerman
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: g.marlow@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marlow
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: c.wall@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: r.murphy@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Rinki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: l.ferguson@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Lynnette R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: e.mitchell@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Edwin A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: k.waldie@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Waldie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human
keywords: Cohort; Dopamine; Gene-environment; Genetics; Genotype; Longitudinal; Mood; SGA; SNP; rs1042098