Genetic polymorphism of vesicular monoamine transporter 1 gene (SLC18A1) in Emirati population

Vesicular monoamine transporters (VMATs) are an important target for biological research in neuropsychiatric disorders. Recent studies indicated that VMAT1 is expressed in the brain, thus making transporter plausible candidate genes for neuropsychiatric disorders. Furthermore, several recent genetic case-control studies have documented an association between common missense variations in the VMAT1 gene and susceptibility to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Until now, there are no reports of VMAT 1 allele frequencies in Emirati population. Hence, the aim of the present work was to study VMAT1 genetic polymorphism in Healthy Emirati population. Saliva samples were collected from 248 healthy Emiratis and genotyping was done for rs2270641 by PCR-RFLP, and rs2270637 and rs1390938 by Taqman assay. The minor allele frequencies of rs2270641, rs2270637 and rs1390938 were 0.48, 0.20 and 0.18, respectively, which were compared with that of available HapMap population data. In conclusion, the present study is first of its kind in Emirati population that established the allele and genotype frequency for various VMAT1 alleles which can be exploited to design future studies on the genetic association of neuropsychiatry disorders.   Key words: Neuropsychiatry disorders, bipolar, monoamine, vesicular monoamine transporters, vesicular monoamine transporter (VMATs).