Serotonin transporter polymorphism predicts waking cortisol in young girls

摘要: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent and costly all psychiatric disorders. The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis, which regulates hormonal response to stress, has been found be disrupted in depression. HPA dysregulation may represent an important risk factor for To examine a possible genetic underpinning this without confound current or lifetime depression, we genotyped 84 never-disordered young girls, over third whom were at elevated assess association between polymorphism promoter region serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene diurnal variation HPA-axis activity. This 5-HTT-linked polymorphic (5-HTTLPR) previously interact with stress increase We 5-HTTLPR significantly associated cortisol levels: girls who homozygous short-allele had higher levels waking (but not afternoon evening) than did their long-allele counterparts. finding suggests that susceptibility dysregulation, especially apparent cortisol, detectable individuals as 9 years age.