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5HTT genotype and its future in psychiatry
- Sangeetha Chinnadurai (23 March 2006)
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Sangeetha Chinnadurai, Doctor (Senior house Officer) Keele Rotation (Leighton hospital
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csangeeth{at}yahoo.co.uk Sangeetha Chinnadurai
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Dear Sir/Madam, I read with great interest, the journal on 'Stressful life events,5HTT genotype and risk of depression'in the British journal of Psychiatry, March 2006 edition. There have been numerous research, which throws light on this area of genotype-environmental interaction of major depression. The author has given a good overview of the evidence for and against this claim.Since the emergence of evidence of polymorphism of 5HTT gene and the s/s allele, it has been linked to various psychiatric disorders major depression,subthreshold depression (Journal of Affective disorders Aug 2005 vol 87 no 2-3 p 291-7), seasonal affective disorders, anxiety disorders as well as physical disorders eg. increased cardiac events after acute MI (Influence of serotonin transporter gene polymorphism on depressive symptoms and new cardiac events after acute MI, American Heart Journal, Oct 2005 vol.150, no 4 p 652-658) and increased recurrent aphthous stomatitis. On the other hand,environmental factors like socioeconomic status have been linked to variation in brain serotonergic activity independent of the 5HTTLPR genotype(Psychological medicine, April 2005 vol 35, no 4 p519-528). So we have to tread a careful path as it has been linked to various physical and psychiatric disorders, and we would need large samples with high statistical power to prove this small genetic effect and its link to stressful life events and depression. Thanking You Yours truly Dr Sangeetha Chinnadurai SHO in Psychiatry Leighton Hospital Crewe CW14QJ |
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