SELF-ESTEEM IN REMITTED PATIENTS WITH MOOD DISORDERS IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DOPAMINE-RECEPTOR D-4 AND THE SEROTONIN TRANSPORTER GENES

Disturbances of the dopaminergic and serotoninergic neurotransmitter s ystems have been implicated in the pathogenesis of depressive symptoms . Associations have been reported between markers of the two neurotran smitter systems and the presence of illness or severity of depressive episodes, but no attention has been focused on the periods of remissio n. The present report focuses on a possible association of self-esteem in remitted mood disorder patients with the functional polymorphism l ocated in the upstream regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and the dopamine receptor D-4 (DRD4). Inpatients (N = 162) affected by bipolar (n = 103) and unipolar (n = 59) disorder (DSM III-R) were assessed by the Self-Esteem Scale (SES, Rosenberg, 1965) and were typed for DRD4 and 5-HTTLPR (n = 58 subjects) variants at the third exon using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. Neither DRD4 nor 5-HTTLPR variants were associated with SES scores, and consid eration of possible stratification effects such as sex and psychiatric diagnosis did not reveal any association either. The serotonin transp orter and dopamine receptor D-4 genes do not, therefore, influence sel f-esteem in remitted mood disorder subjects. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.