Background
A polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR)
has been associated with seasonality both in patients with seasonal affective disorder
and in the general population.
Method
We used in vivo molecular imaging to measure cerebral serotonin transporter (5-HTT)
binding in 57 healthy Scandinavians and related the outcome to season of the year
and to the 5-HTTLPR carrier status.
Results
We found that the number of daylight minutes at the time of scanning correlated negatively
with 5-HTT binding in the putamen and the caudate, with a similar tendency in the
thalamus, whereas this association was not observed for the midbrain. Furthermore,
in the putamen, an anatomic region with relatively dense serotonin innervation, we
found a significant gene × daylight effect, such that there was a negative correlation
between 5-HTT binding and daylight minutes in carriers of the short 5-HTTLPR allele
but not in homozygote carriers of the long allele.
Conclusions
Our findings are in line with S-carriers having an increased response in neural circuits
involved in emotional processing to stressful environmental stimuli but here demonstrated
as a endophenotype with dynamic changes in serotonin reuptake.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 28, 2010
Accepted:
November 19,
2009
Received in revised form:
November 19,
2009
Received:
February 19,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
