RESEARCH ARTICLE
Anxiety-related Endophenotypes and Hazardous Alcohol Use in Young Adults are Associated with a Functional Polymorphism in the SLC6A4 Gene
Karen M. Jiménez1, Angela J. Pereira-Morales1, Ana Adan2, 3, Sandra Lopez-Leon4, Diego A. Forero1, 5, 6, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2019Volume: 13
First Page: 83
Last Page: 91
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-13-83
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X01913010083
Article History:
Received Date: 04/04/2019Revision Received Date: 25/05/2019
Acceptance Date: 18/06/2019
Electronic publication date: 31/07/2019
Collection year: 2019
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
A functional polymorphism (5-HTTLPR, rs4795541) in the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) gene has been shown as an important candidate for several psychiatric and behavioral traits.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to examine the possible interaction of this polymorphism with physical neglect in childhood on the presentation of anxiety traits and hazardous alcohol consumption in young Colombian subjects.
Methods:
272 young adults (mean age: 21.3 years) were evaluated with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale, the Big Five Inventory, the Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, the Alcohol, Smoking, Substance Involvement Screening Test and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Genotyping for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was carried out using conventional PCR. A linear regression model, corrected by age and gender, was used.
Results:
We found that individuals with the L/L genotype showed higher scores on physical neglect (p=0.0047), anxiety symptoms (p=0.028), neuroticism (p=0.019) and perceived stress (p=0.035). L/L genotype was a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use in young adults (OR=3.06, p=0.0003). No GxE interactions were observed in our data.
Conclusion:
Our results provide novel evidence for the role of a functional polymorphism in the SLC6A4 gene on the relationship of childhood trauma, anxiety-related traits and risky consumption of alcohol.