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Pilot study: potential transcription markers for adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in whole blood

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common behavioural disorder that affects not only children and adolescents but also adults; however, diagnosis of adult ADHD is difficult because patients seem to have reduced externalized behaviour. ADHD is a multifactorial disorder in which many genes, all with small effects, are thought to cause the disorder in the presence of unfavourable environmental conditions. Therefore, in this pilot study, we explored the expression profile of a list of previously established candidate genes in peripheral blood samples from adult ADHD subjects (n = 108) and compared these results with those of healthy controls (n = 35). We demonstrate that combining the gene expression levels of dopamine transporter (SLC6A3), dopamine D5 receptor, tryptophan hydroxylase-1, and SNAP25 as predictors in a regression model resulted in sensitivity and specificity of over 80 % (ROC: max R 2 = 0.587, AUC = 0.917, P < 0.001, 95 % CI: 0.900–0.985). In conclusion, the combination of these four genes could represent a potential method for estimating risk and could be of diagnostic value for ADHD. Nevertheless, further investigation in a larger independent population including different subtypes of ADHD (inattentive, hyperactive, or combined type) patients is required to obtain more specific sets of biomarkers for each subtype as well as to differentiate between child, adolescent, and adulthood forms.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants. In addition, we would also like to thank Dr. S. Kreiker for her assistance in recruitment and M. Hofmann and N. Döring for their excellent technical assistance. The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft KFO 125.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Neumüensterallee 9, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland

    Edna Grünblatt & Susanne Walitza

  2. Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, 97080, Würzburg, Germany

    Edna Grünblatt, Julia Geißler, Christian P. Jacob, Maja Müller, Jasmin Bartl, Silke Gross-Lesch, Peter Riederer, Klaus-Peter Lesch & Angelika Schmitt

  3. Institute of Molecular Psychiatry, Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, 97080, Würzburg, Germany

    Tobias Renner & Manfred Gerlach

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  1. Edna Grünblatt
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  2. Julia Geißler
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  3. Christian P. Jacob
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  4. Tobias Renner
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  5. Maja Müller
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  6. Jasmin Bartl
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  7. Silke Gross-Lesch
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  9. Klaus-Peter Lesch
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  10. Susanne Walitza
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  11. Manfred Gerlach
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  12. Angelika Schmitt
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Correspondence to Edna Grünblatt.

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Edna Grünblatt and Julia Geißler have contributed equally.

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Grünblatt, E., Geißler, J., Jacob, C.P. et al. Pilot study: potential transcription markers for adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in whole blood. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 4, 77–84 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-012-0074-6

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