Seasonal variations in mood and behavior (seasonality) and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) have been attributed to seasonal fluctuations in brain serotonin (5-HT). The short (s), as opposed to the long (l), allele of the 5-HT transporter linked polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with neuroticism and depression. We hypothesized that this short allele would also be associated with SAD and with higher levels of seasonality. Ninety-seven SAD patients and 71 non-seasonal healthy controls with low seasonality levels were genotyped for 5-HTTLPR and compared statistically. Patients with SAD were less likely to have the l/l genotype (27.8% vs 47.9%; P < 0.01) and more likely to have the s allele (44.8% vs 32.4%; P < 0.02) as compared to controls. The three 5-HTTLPR genotypes were also differentially distributed in patients and controls (P < 0.03). The SAD patients with the l/l genotype had a lower mean seasonality score than did patients with the other two genotypes (mean ± s.d., = 15.3 ± 2.8 vs 17.1 ± 3.4 respectively; P < 0.02). The 5-HTTLPR short allele contributes to the trait of seasonality and is a risk factor for SAD, providing further evidence for a relationship between genetic variation in the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) and behavior.
CITATION STYLE
Rosenthal, N. E., Mazzanti, C. M., Barnett, R. L., Hardin, T. A., Turner, E. H., Lam, G. K., … Goldman, D. (1998). Role of serotonin transporter promoter repeat length polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in seasonality and seasonal affective disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 3(2), 175–177. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4000360
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.