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Native American ancestry leads to complexity in 5-HTTLPR polymorphism association studies

Molecular Psychiatry volume 20, pages 659–660 (2015)Cite this article

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As the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was identified, about 20 years ago, it has been one of the most extensively investigated polymorphisms in neuropsychiatric disorders. Between only 2012 and 2014, 221 studies were published addressing the association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and a wide range of different phenotypes, including neuropsychiatric disorders.

The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism consists of a 44-bp insertion/deletion in the 5′-regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5HTT).1 This polymorphism is associated with variations in transcriptional activity: the long variant (L; 44-bp insertion inside an imperfect repeat sequence region) has approximately three times the basal activity of the short promoter (S; 44-bp deletion).2 Functionally, the 5-HTTLPR-S leads to lower quantities of 5HTT, reducing the uptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin into the pre-synaptic cells of the brain. Other rare 5-HTTLPR alleles have been described,3 but most of the studies focused in the two common S- and L-alleles.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Aline Brugnera Felkl for the technical assistance. This study was supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Biosciences Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    T Hünemeier, R Bisso-Machado, F M Salzano & M C Bortolini

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  1. T Hünemeier
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  2. R Bisso-Machado
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  3. F M Salzano
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  4. M C Bortolini
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Correspondence to M C Bortolini.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website

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Hünemeier, T., Bisso-Machado, R., Salzano, F. et al. Native American ancestry leads to complexity in 5-HTTLPR polymorphism association studies. Mol Psychiatry 20, 659–660 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.39

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