Sixteen patients with major depression (MDD) referred for ECT and 12 matched controls were prospectively recruited for imaging and SLC6A3 VNTR genotyping.
Moreover, neuroimaging examinations in the patients with MDD revealed isolated occipital hypoperfusion in three patients and mild dopamine transporter deficit in one patient.
The current study is a preliminary investigation of the association of polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), dopamine transporter (DAT1), dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) genes with theory of mind decoding in a sample of adults with major depression.
The aim of this study was to examine the availabilities of midbrain SERT and striatal DAT in healthy subjects with and without a first-degree family history of MDD.
Two notable exceptions are the DRD4 and DAT gene: both have variable tandem repeat polymorphisms which may have a "single gene" influence on susceptibility to MDD.
Since the dopamine transporter (DAT1, also known as SLC6A3), mediates the active reuptake of dopamine from the synapses and thereby plays a vital role in the regulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission, we looked for a possible association between the C/T single nucleotide polymorphism in intron 14 of the DAT1 gene (also referred to as rs40184) and MDD in a northeastern Thai population.