MK4MDD

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Study Report

Reference

Citation	Chen, 2009 PubMed
Full Info	Chen, M.C., Joormann, J., Hallmayer, J. and Gotlib, I.H. (2009) Serotonin transporter polymorphism predicts waking cortisol in young girls. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 681-686.

Study

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

Relationships reported by Chen, 2009