A family based association study of DRD4, DAT1, and 5HTT and continuous traits of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Abstract	Despite its high heritability, genetic association studies of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have often resulted in somewhat small, inconsistent effects. Refining the ADHD phenotype beyond a dichotomous diagnosis and testing associations with continuous information from the underlying symptom dimensions may result in more consistent genetic findings. This study further examined the association between ADHD and the DRD4, DAT1, and 5HTT genes by testing their association with multivariate phenotypes derived from continuous measures of ADHD symptom severity. DNA was collected in 202 families consisting of at least one ADHD proband and at least one parent or sibling. VNTR polymorphisms of the DRD4 and DAT1 genes were significantly associated with the continuous ADHD phenotype. The association with DRD4 was driven by both inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, while the association with DAT1 was driven primarily by inattentive symptoms. These results use novel methods to build upon important connections between dopamine genes and their final behavioral manifestation as symptoms of ADHD.
Authors	L Cinnamon Bidwell, Erik G Willcutt, Matthew B McQueen, John C DeFries, Richard K Olson, Shelley D Smith, Bruce F Pennington
Journal	Behavior genetics (Behav Genet) Vol. 41 Issue 1 Pg. 165-74 (Jan 2011) ISSN: 1573-3297 [Electronic] United States
PMID	21207241 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Twin Study)
Chemical References	DRD4 protein, human Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins SLC6A3 protein, human SLC6A4 protein, human Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins Receptors, Dopamine D4
Topics	Anxiety Disorders (diagnosis, genetics) Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (diagnosis, genetics) Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders (diagnosis, genetics) Child Comorbidity Conduct Disorder (diagnosis, genetics) Depressive Disorder, Major (diagnosis, genetics) Diseases in Twins (genetics) Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins (genetics) Female Gene Frequency Genetic Association Studies Genotype Humans Male Phenotype Phobic Disorders (diagnosis, genetics) Receptors, Dopamine D4 (genetics) Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins (genetics)

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