Abstract
To investigate whether the dopaminergic system plays a role in the etiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) via the dopamine D2 receptor, we investigated association and transmission disequilibrium at seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning about 75?kbp of the gene DRD2. We studied 191 probands with a DSM-IV diagnosis of AN, 457 parents and affected relatives with a DSM-IV eating disorder diagnosis, and 98 unrelated, female, normal weight controls. The −141 C/− insertion/deletion (−141 Indel), previously shown to affect DRD2 transcription efficiency, and multiple exon seven polymorphisms, one of which has previously been shown to affect DRD2 transcript stability, exhibited statistically significant association with diagnosis in haplotype transmission disequilibrium and in haplotype case?:?control analyses. Significant linkage disequilibrium between the −141 Indel and two exon seven SNPs (939Y and 957Y) was observed over a distance of >50?kbp in the AN probands but not in the controls. Genetically transmitted variation in D2 dopamine receptor expression mediated by functional polymorphisms affecting transcription and translation efficiency may play a role in vulnerability to AN.
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Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the participating families for their contribution of time and effort in support of this study. We wish to thank the Price Foundation for the support of the clinical collection of subjects and genotyping, and contribution to the support of data analysis. We wish to thank Neil Caporaso, MD, for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Data analysis was also supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health (MH57881; BD) and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award (S-AB). Some of the results of this paper were obtained using the S.A.G.E. package of genetic epidemiology software, which is supported by a US Public Health Service Resource Grant (RR03655) from the National Center for Research Resources.
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Bergen, A., Yeager, M., Welch, R. et al. Association of Multiple DRD2 Polymorphisms with Anorexia Nervosa. Neuropsychopharmacol 30, 1703–1710 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300719
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300719
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