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Candidate-Gene Approach in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Urban Violence: Association Analysis of the Genes Encoding Serotonin Transporter, Dopamine Transporter, and BDNF

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Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, disabling anxiety disorder marked by behavioral and physiologic alterations which commonly follows a chronic course. Exposure to a traumatic event constitutes a necessary, but not sufficient, factor. There is evidence from twin studies supporting a significant genetic predisposition to PTSD. However, the precise genetic loci still remain unclear. The objective of the present study was to identify, in a case–control study, whether the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) val66met polymorphism (rs6265), the dopamine transporter (DAT1) three prime untranslated region (3′UTR) variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR), and the serotonin transporter (5-HTTPRL) short/long variants are associated with the development of PTSD in a group of victims of urban violence. All polymorphisms were genotyped in 65 PTSD patients as well as in 34 victims of violence without PTSD and in a community control group (n = 335). We did not find a statistical significant difference between the BDNF val66met and 5-HTTPRL polymorphism and the traumatic phenotype. However, a statistical association was found between DAT1 3′UTR VNTR nine repeats and PTSD (OR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.20–2.76). This preliminary result confirms previous reports supporting a susceptibility role for allele 9 and PTSD.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partly funded by Fundacão de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (grant: 2004/15039-0). NLMV received a scholarship from the Ministry of Education (CAPES). JJM is a CNPq level I researcher, and MFM, RAB, and SBA are CNPq level II researchers. We would like to thank Thais Chile and Katia Ichi for their technical contribution for the lab work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 431, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, CEP 04023–061, São Paulo, Brazil

    Nina Leão Marques Valente, Rodrigo Affonseca Bressan, Sergio Baxter Andreoli, Jair Jesus Mari & Marcelo Feijó Mello

  2. Departamento de Psiquiatria e LIM-23, da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Homero Vallada, Quirino Cordeiro & Karen Miguita

  3. Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Jair Jesus Mari

  4. Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, Brazil

    Karen Miguita

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  1. Nina Leão Marques Valente
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  2. Homero Vallada
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Correspondence to Nina Leão Marques Valente.

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Valente, N.L.M., Vallada, H., Cordeiro, Q. et al. Candidate-Gene Approach in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Urban Violence: Association Analysis of the Genes Encoding Serotonin Transporter, Dopamine Transporter, and BDNF. J Mol Neurosci 44, 59–67 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-011-9513-7

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