Citation

Caspi A, Sugden K, Moffitt TE, Taylor A, Craig IW, Harrington H, McClay J, Mill J, Martin J, Braithwaite A, Poulton R. Science 2003; 301(5631): 386-389.

Affiliation

Medical Research Council Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, PO80 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.1126/science.1083968

PMID

12869766

Abstract

In a prospective-longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort, we tested why stressful experiences lead to depression in some people but not in others. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HT T) gene was found to moderate the influence of stressful life events on depression. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HT T promoter polymorphism exhibited more depressive symptoms, diagnosable depression, and suicidality in relation to stressful life events than individuals homozygous for the long allele. This epidemiological study thus provides evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction, in which an individual's response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.

Language: en