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Epistatic effect of genes from the dopamine and serotonin systems on the temperament traits of Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance

Molecular Psychiatry volume 7, pages 448–450 (2002)Cite this article

SIR – Extremely high and low scoring individuals on the temperament dimensions of novelty seeking and harm avoidance were genotyped for three candidate genes involved in the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems. Associations were found between the dopamine transporter gene and novelty seeking, and between the serotonin transporter gene and harm avoidance. The associations were the strongest in females. In addition, the associations differed although not significantly, in groups of individuals with or without the 7-repeat allele of the dopamine D4 receptor gene, suggestive of an epistatic effect.

Genetic studies on temperament have been focused mainly on the dimensions of novelty seeking (NS) and harm avoidance (HA). High NS was found to be associated with the 7-repeat allele of a 48-bp polymorphic repeat in the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4),1,2 and high HA with the short allele of a 44-bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in the upstream regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT).3 In addition interaction has been reported between the 5-HTT and DRD4 polymorphisms in NS and HA.4,5,6 Since the DRD4 and 5-HTT associations were not found in cross cultural and ethnic groups, they are subject to an ongoing debate.7 We therefore aimed at replicating the association and interaction findings using the method of selective genotyping.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology, University of Antwerp, Belgium

    S Van Gestel, S Claes, J Del-Favero, S Sluijs & C Van Broeckhoven

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Psychiatry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    T Forsgren & R Adolfsson

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    S Claes

  4. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    L-G Nilsson

  5. Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    C M van Duijn

Authors
  1. S Van Gestel
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  2. T Forsgren
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  3. S Claes
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  4. J Del-Favero
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  5. C M van Duijn
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  6. S Sluijs
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  7. L-G Nilsson
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  8. R Adolfsson
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  9. C Van Broeckhoven
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Correspondence to C Van Broeckhoven.

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Van Gestel, S., Forsgren, T., Claes, S. et al. Epistatic effect of genes from the dopamine and serotonin systems on the temperament traits of Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance. Mol Psychiatry 7, 448–450 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001005

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