Genetic heterogeneity in ADHD: DAT1 gene only affects probands without CD

Kaixin Zhou, Wai Chen, Jan Buitelaar, Tobias Banaschewski, Robert D. Oades, Barbara Franke, Edmund Sonuga-Barke, Richard Ebstein, Jacques Eisenberg, Michael Gill, Iris Manor, Ana Miranda, Fernando Mulas, Herbert Roeyers, Aribert Rothenberger, Joseph Sergeant, Hans Christoph Steinhausen, Jessica Lasky-Su, Eric Taylor, Keeley J. BrookesXiaohui Xu, Benjamin M. Neale, Fruhling Rijsdijk, Margaret Thompson, Philip Asherson, Stephen V. Faraone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous studies have found heterogeneous association between DAT1-3′-UTR-VNTR and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Various proportions of conduct disorder (CD) comorbidity in their ADHD samples may partially explain the observational discrepancies. Evidence for this comes from family and twin studies which found ADHD probands with CD (ADHD + CD) are genetically different from those without CD (ADHD - CD). Genotypes of 20 DAT1 markers were analyzed in 576 trios, consisting of 141 ADHD + CD and 435 ADHD - CD. In addition to the classical TDT test, a specific genetic heterogeneity test was performed to identify variants that have different transmission patterns in the two phenotypic subgroups. After multiple-test correction, rs40184 and rs2652511 were significant in TDT tests. Further heterogeneity test found the two SNPs had a significant transmission pattern difference between ADHD + CD and ADHD - CD children, indicating that DAT1 has a significantly greater genetic influence on ADHD without CD. Although the result needs further replications, it does highlight the importance of selecting genetically homogeneous samples for molecular genetic analyses of ADHD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1481-1487
Number of pages7
JournalAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics, Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
Volume147
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Dec 2008
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute of Mental HealthR01MH062873

    Keywords

    • Association
    • Comorbidity
    • Stratification

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