The aim of this study was to investigate whether anxiety disorders and anxiety-related traits are associated with 5-HTTLPR (biallelic and triallelic) in adolescents, integrating both case-control-based and family-based designs in a community sample.
The alleles of the rs2180619 are A > G; the G allele has been associated with addiction and high levels of anxiety (when the G allele interacts with the SS genotype of the 5-HTTLPR gene).
The reported interaction effects demonstrate that gender strongly modulates the relationship between 5-HTTLPR genotype and subclinical expression of anxiety acting on amygdala, one region of the emotional neural network specifically involved in the anxiety-like behaviours.
Therefore, anxiety and depressive disorders are treated by SSRIs which inhibit serotonin transporter (5-HTT) while psychotic disorders are controlled by drugs that block serotonin and/or dopamine receptors.
Finally, loss aversion is expected to be modulated by genotype, particularly the serotonin transporter (SERT) gene variant, based on its role in anxiety and impulsivity.
No clear consensus on the role of any individual gene variant in personality modulation emerged, although SLC6A4 haplotypes and the DRD4 rs1800955 promoter variant seemed to be more reliably related to anxiety and impulsivity-related traits, respectively.
We studied 120 healthy subjects in whom the baseline personality and anxiety traits and the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genotype were measured.
In the current commentary, we discuss Stoltenberg and colleagues' finding (reported in this issue) that variation in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) is associated with prosocial behavior via effects on anxiety in social situations.
We examined whether anxiety mediated the association between variation in the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region (5-HTTLPR) and prosocial behavior.
We found no evidence to suggest that the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism moderated the effects of maternal antenatal anxiety on infant temperament at 6 months or infant behavioral and emotional problems from childhood through to adolescence.
Trait anxiety was positively associated with emotional belief-bias, and the 5-HTTLPR genotype significantly accounted for the variance in this association.
We investigated the relationship between 5-HTTLPR genotype and depression and anxiety in a population with diabetes mellitus, a condition associated with high rates of stress and depression.
Second, we examine within Generation R whether the functional polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the promoter of the serotonin transporter gene interacts with prenatal maternal chronic difficulties, prenatal maternal anxiety or postnatal maternal anxiety to influence child emotional development.
The symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD) are often aggravated by anxiety, and the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) has been shown to be of importance in this context.
The findings reported here replicate those from our previous work, adding to a growing body of research demonstrating that the 5-HTTLPR genotype moderates risk for anxiety and depression phenotypes in the context of stress and adverse events.
We tested whether the association between self-reported maternal anxiety at 20 weeks gestation (Brief Symptom Inventory) and mother-rated infant negative emotionality at 6 months after birth (Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised) would be moderated by the 5-HTTLPR in a large Dutch cohort sample (n = 1513).
This preliminary study aimed to explore the association between academic performance and levels of anxiety with respect to the bi- and triallelic classification of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the 5-HTT gene in teacher candidates.
Moreover, only one study has investigated the functional significance of the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotypes in relation to anxiety traits in healthy subjects.