Psychiatry Investig.  2011 Jun;8(2):130-133.

Epigenetic Changes of Serotonin Transporter in the Patients with Alcohol Dependence: Methylation of an Serotonin Transporter Promoter CpG Island

• Park BY
• Lee BC
• Jung KH
• Jung MH
• Park BL
• Chai YG
• Choi IG

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and alcohol dependence are associated with serotonin metabolism. We assessed the methylation level of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) promoter region in control and alcohol dependent patients.
METHODS
Twenty seven male patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder IV (DSM-IV) criteria for alcohol dependence were compared with fifteen controls. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays of bisulfate-modified DNA were designed to amplify a part of the CpG island in the 5HTT gene. Pyrosequencing was performed and the methylation level at seven CpG island sites was measured.
RESULTS
We found no differences in the methylation patterns of the serotonin transporter linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) between alcohol-dependent and control subjects.
CONCLUSION
Our negative finding may be because 5-HTT epigenetic variation may not affect the expression for 5-HTT or there may be other methylation site critical for its expression. To find out more conclusive result, repeating the study in more methylation sites with a larger number of samples in a well-controlled setting is needed.

Keyword

Serotonin transporter region (5-HTTLPR); Methylation; Alcohol dependence

MeSH Terms

Alcoholism
Anxiety
CpG Islands
Depression
DNA
Epigenomics
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders
Methylation
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Promoter Regions, Genetic
Serotonin
Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
DNA
Serotonin
Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins