ASSOCIATION OF ANXIETY-RELATED TRAITS WITH A POLYMORPHISM IN THE SEROTONIN TRANSPORTER GENE REGULATORY REGION

Transporter-facilitated uptake of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5- HT) has been implicated in anxiety in humans and animal models and is the site of action of widely used uptake-inhibiting antidepressant and antianxiety drugs. Human 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) gene transcription is modulated by a common polymorphism in its upstream regulatory regio n. The short variant of the polymorphism reduces the transcriptional e fficiency of the 5-HTT gene promoter, resulting in decreased 5-HTT exp ression and 5-HT uptake in lymphoblasts. Association studies in two in dependent samples totaling 505 individuals revealed that the 5-HTT pol ymorphism accounts for 3 to 4 percent of total variation and 7 to 9 pe rcent of inherited variance in anxiety-related personality traits in i ndividuals as well as sibships.