Cited by 39Attention Deficit Hyperactivity DisorderNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorGenetic Associations and Epidemiology

Association study and a systematic meta-analysis of the VNTR polymorphism in the 3′-UTR of dopamine transporter gene and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

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Grünblatt, Edna, Werling, Anna Maria, Roth, Alexander, Romanos, Marcel, Walitza, Susanne·2019·Journal of Neural Transmission

Abstract

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been postulated to associate with dopaminergic dysfunction, including the dopamine transporter (DAT1). Several meta-analyses showed small but significant association between the 10-repeat allele in the DAT1 gene in 3'-untranslated region variant number tandem repeat polymorphism and child and adolescent ADHD, whereas in adult ADHD the 9-repeat allele was suggested to confer as risk allele. Interestingly, recent evidence indicated that the long-allele variants (10 repeats and longer) might confer to lower expression of the transporter in comparison to the short-allele. Therefore, we assessed here the association in samples consisting of families with child and adolescent ADHD as well as a case-control sample, using either the 10- versus 9-repeat or the long- versus short-allele approach. Following, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, including family and case-control studies, using the two aforementioned approaches as well as stratifying to age and ethnicity. The first approach (10-repeat) resulted in nominal significant association in child and adolescent ADHD (OR 1.1050 p = 0.0128), that became significant stratifying to European population (OR 1.1301 p = 0.0085). The second approach (long-allele) resulted in significant association with the whole ADHD population (OR 1.1046 p = 0.0048), followed by significant association for child and adolescent ADHD (OR 1.1602 p = 0.0006) and in Caucasian and in European child and adolescent ADHD (OR 1.1310 p = 0.0114; OR 1.1661 p = 0.0061; respectively). We were not able to confirm the association reported in adults using both approaches. In conclusion, we found further indication for a possible DAT1 gene involvement; however, further studies should be conducted with stringent phenotyping to reduce heterogeneity, a limitation observed in most included studies.

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  • Variants within the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1/SLC6A3) and the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4, especially the 7-repeat allele) are repeatedly associated with increased ADHD risk.

    “Variants within the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1/SLC6A3) and the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4, especially the 7-repeat allele) were repeatedly associated with increased ADHD risk”

    From ADHD in Adulthood: Clinical Presentation, Comorbidities, and Treatment Perspectives (2025) · cites this paper as [60]

    The Introduction and Results report associations between DAT1/SLC6A3 variants and ADHD, particularly the 10-repeat allele in children and adolescents, while noting small effects and heterogeneity. The paper does not report a repeated association between the DRD4 7-repeat allele and increased ADHD risk; DRD4 appears in reference titles, not in the paper’s findings. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Grünblatt, E., Werling, A. M., Roth, A., Romanos, M., & Walitza, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (DE)
Corresponding author
Grünblatt, Edna
Venue
Journal of Neural Transmission
Published
2019-03-28
Volume
126
Issue
4
Pages
517-529
ISSN
  • 0300-9564 (ISSN-L)
  • 1435-1463
OpenAlex
W2932105875
Cited by
39
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neural Transmission (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • Universität Zürich (Filling the Gap)
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (320030-130237)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
Keywords
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dopamine transporter gene, DAT1, 3' untranslated region, VNTR polymorphism, long allele, adult ADHD, dopaminergic dysfunction, genetic association, European populations
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Polymorphism, Genetic, Minisatellite Repeats, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, 3' Untranslated Regions, Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins, Genome-Wide Association Study

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