Open AccessDopamine pathway gene variants may modulate cognitive performance in the DHS – Mind Study
Author(s) -
Martelle Susan E.,
Raffield Laura M.,
Palmer Nichole D.,
Cox Amanda J.,
Freedman Barry I.,
Hugenschmidt Christina E.,
Williamson Jeff D.,
Bowden Don W.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
brain and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 41
ISSN - 2162-3279
DOI - 10.1002/brb3.446
Subject(s) - genetics , dopamine transporter , candidate gene , verbal fluency test , single nucleotide polymorphism , biology , psychology , dopaminergic , cognition , dopamine , neuroscience , gene , genotype , neuropsychology
Background There is an established association between type 2 diabetes and accelerated cognitive decline. The exact mechanism linking type 2 diabetes and reduced cognitive function is less clear. The monoamine system, which is extensively involved in cognition, can be altered by type 2 diabetes status. Thus, this study hypothesized that sequence variants in genes linked to dopamine metabolism and associated pathways are associated with cognitive function as assessed by the Digit Symbol Substitution Task, the Modified Mini‐Mental State Examination, the Stroop Task, the Rey Auditory‐Verbal Learning Task, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Task for Phonemic and Semantic Fluency in the Diabetes Heart Study, a type 2 diabetes‐enriched familial cohort ( n = 893). Methods To determine the effects of candidate variants on cognitive performance, genetic association analyses were performed on the well‐documented variable number tandem repeat located in the 3' untranslated region of the dopamine transporter, as well as on single‐nucleotide polymorphisms covering genes in the dopaminergic pathway, the insulin signaling pathway, and the convergence of both. Next, polymorphisms in loci of interest with strong evidence for involvement in dopamine processing were extracted from genetic datasets available in a subset of the cohort ( n = 572) derived from Affymetrix ® Genome‐Wide Human SNP Array 5.0 and 1000 Genomes imputation from this array. Results The candidate gene analysis revealed one variant from the DOPA decarboxylase gene, rs10499695, to be associated with poorer performance on a subset of Rey Auditory‐Verbal Learning Task measuring retroactive interference ( P = 0.001, β = −0.45). Secondary analysis of genome‐wide and imputed data uncovered another DOPA decarboxylase variant, rs62445903, also associated with retroactive interference ( P = 7.21 × 10 −7 , β = 0.3). These data suggest a role for dopaminergic genes, specifically a gene involved in regulation of dopamine synthesis, in cognitive performance in type 2 diabetes.