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  • Title: Association study between two variants in the DOPA decarboxylase gene in bipolar and unipolar affective disorder.
    Author: Jahnes E, Müller DJ, Schulze TG, Windemuth C, Cichon S, Ohlraun S, Fangerau H, Held T, Maier W, Propping P, Nöthen MM, Rietschel M.
    Journal: Am J Med Genet; 2002 Jul 08; 114(5):519-22. PubMed ID: 12116187.
    Abstract:
    Irregularities of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission have been implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. DOPA decarboxylase (DDC), also known as aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, is an enzyme involved directly in the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin and indirectly in the synthesis of noradrenaline. Therefore, the DDC gene can be considered as a candidate gene for affective disorders. Recently, two novel variants were reported in the DDC gene: a 1-bp deletion in the promoter and a 4-bp deletion in the untranslated exon 1. Subsequently, an association case-control study including 112 English patients and 80 Danish patients with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) revealed a significant association with the 1-bp deletion. This finding prompted us to analyze whether this effect was also present in a larger and ethnically homogeneous sample of 228 unrelated German patients with BPAD (208 patients with BP I disorder, 20 patients with BP II disorder), 183 unrelated patients with unipolar affective disorder (UPAD), and 234 healthy control subjects. For both BPAD and UPAD we could not detect a genetic association with either variant. Thus, our results do not support an involvement of the 1-bp or 4-bp deletion within the DDC gene in the etiology of affective disorders.
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