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Association of the serotonin transporter polymorphism and obsessive‐compulsive disorder: Systematic review
Author(s) -
Bloch Michael H.,
LanderosWeisenberger Angeli,
Sen Srijan,
Dombrowski Philip,
Kelmendi Ben,
Coric Vladimir,
Pittenger Christopher,
Leckman James F.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part b: neuropsychiatric genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1552-485X
pISSN - 1552-4841
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.b.30699
Subject(s) - serotonin transporter , meta analysis , allele , association (psychology) , obsessive compulsive , genetic association , 5 httlpr , psychology , clinical psychology , genetics , medicine , genotype , biology , single nucleotide polymorphism , gene , psychotherapist
We investigated the association between the long (l) and short (s) alleles of the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5‐HTTLPR) in the promoter region of the SLC6A4 gene and obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) using meta‐analysis to combine all published data from case–control and family based association studies (2,283 cases). In stratified meta‐analysis we investigated whether age of sample (child and adult), ethnicity (Caucasian and Asian) and study design (case–control and family‐based association studies) moderated any association. In the overall meta‐analysis we found no evidence of association between genetic variation at the 5‐HTTLPR locus and OCD. We did find significant heterogeneity between studies. In the stratified meta‐analyses, we demonstrated a significant association between the l‐allele and OCD in family‐based association studies and in studies involving children and Caucasians. Our meta‐analysis suggests the possibility that the l‐allele may be associated with OCD in specific OCD subgroups such as childhood‐onset OCD and in Caucasians. Further meta‐analyses based on individual patient data would be helpful in determining whether age of OCD onset, gender and the presence of comorbid illness (e.g., tics) moderates the relationship between 5‐HTTLPR and OCD. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.