title: Glucocorticoid receptor variants in childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid psychiatric disorders.
abstract: Stress results in a variety of neuroendocrine, immune and behavioral responses and represents a risk factor for many disorders. Following exposure to stress, glucocorticoids are secreted from the adrenal cortex and act via the ligand-activated glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Several polymorphisms of the GR-encoding gene NR3C1 have been described and functionally investigated. However, the impact of these variants on complex diseases such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is still unclear. In this study, 251 children with ADHD, 19 affected and 35 unaffected siblings, and their parents were included in a family-based association study assessing seven common variants of NR3C1 (TthIIII_rs10052957; NR3C1-I_rs10482605; ER22/23EK_rs6189/rs6190; N363S_rs56149945; BclI_rs41423247; GR-9beta_rs6198). A four-marker haplotype (TthIIII-NR3C1-I-ER22/23EK) was nominally associated with ADHD. In addition, in index children with ADHD, associations with comorbid disorders, inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were explored. N363S minor allele carriers were more likely to show comorbid conduct disorder (CD). In our study, NR3C1 variants moderately affected ADHD and had a significant effect on comorbid CD. Therefore, NR3C1 as an important gene of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis seems to be particularly relevant for the pathophysiology of ADHD combined with comorbid CD. For a deeper understanding, investigations in larger samples of healthy, ADHD and CD individuals are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobehavioral Genetics, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany. Electronic address: schotefrese@uni-trier.de.
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Schote
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobehavioral Genetics, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobehavioral Genetics, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
authors.forename: Haukur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pálmason
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Saarland University Hospital, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobehavioral Genetics, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
authors.forename: Jobst
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, JW Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Freitag
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C497713:NR3C1 protein, human; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid
keywords: ADHD; Association; Conduct disorder; Cortisol; NR3C1; SNPs