Lack of association between GABRA3 and unipolar affective disorder: a multicentre study

Available data on gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) support the hypothesis th at a dysfunction in the brain GABAergic system activity contributes to vuln erability to affective disorders (AD), including bipolar disorder (BPAD) an d unipolar disorder (UPAD). The localization of the alpha3 subunit GABA rec eptor (GABRA3) gene in Xq28, a region of interest for BPAD suggests that GA BRA3 may be a relevant candidate gene. In the present study, we tested the genetic contribution of the GABRA3 dinucleotide polymorphism in a European multicentre UPAD case-control sample [UPAD (n = 106), controls (n = 212)]. Our negative results suggest that GABRA3 does not confer susceptibility nor is it in linkage disequilibrium with another close gene involved in the ge netic aetiology of UPAD.