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  • Original Research Article
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A major SNP haplotype of the arginine vasopressin 1B receptor protects against recurrent major depression

Molecular Psychiatry volume 9, pages 287–292 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Increasing amounts of data suggest that affective disorders might be related to dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, one of the stress-response systems. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) influences several symptoms, relevant to affective disorders, notable memory processes, pain sensitivity, synchronization of biological rhythms and the timing and quality of REM sleep. We examined whether genetic variations in the AVP receptor 1b gene (AVPR1b) could be associated with increased susceptibility to affective disorders using a gene-based association analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Five SNPs were identified in AVPR1b and genotyped in two well-diagnosed samples of patients with recurrent major depression and matched controls. In the Swedish sample, we observed significant allele (P=0.02) and genotype (P=0.01) association with SNP AVPR1b-s3, and in the Belgian sample, a borderline significant association with SNP AVPR1b-s5 (P=0.04). In both patient–control samples, the haplotype defined by alleles A-T-C-A-G for the AVPR1b-s SNPs s1-s2-s3-s4-s5 was significantly over-represented in controls compared to patients. Our data support a protective effect of this major haplotype for recurrent major depression.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the VIB Genetic Service Facility (http://www.vibgeneticservicefacility.be/) for their excellent support with the genetic analyses. The project was in part funded by the Special Research Fund of the University of Antwerp (UA), the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO and FNRS) and the Interuniversity Attraction Poles program P5/19 of the Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs, Belgium. The Torsten and Ragnar Söderbergs Foundation, Medical Research Council K2001-21X-10412-09A and The County Council of Västerbotten, Sweden supported the ascertainment of the Swedish patient–control sample.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), University of Antwerp (UIA), Antwerpen, Belgium

    D van West, J Del-Favero, S Sluijs, S Bel-Kacem, C Van Broeckhoven & S Claes

  2. University Centre of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Antwerp (UCKJA), Belgium

    D van West & D Deboutte

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Y Aulchenko & C Van Duijn

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Erasme Hospital, University of Brussels (ULB), Brussel, Belgium

    P Oswald, D Souery & J Mendlewicz

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

    T Forsgren & R Adolfsson

  6. Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp (UIA), Antwerp, Belgium

    D van West, D Deboutte & S Claes

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  1. D van West
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  8. S Bel-Kacem
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  9. R Adolfsson
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  13. C Van Broeckhoven
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  14. S Claes
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Correspondence to S Claes.

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van West, D., Del-Favero, J., Aulchenko, Y. et al. A major SNP haplotype of the arginine vasopressin 1B receptor protects against recurrent major depression. Mol Psychiatry 9, 287–292 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001420

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001420

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