hdl:10101/npre.2008.2259.1
5 votes

Seasonal changes in brain serotonin transporter binding in short 5-HTTLPR-allele carriers but not in long-allele homozygotes

Jan Kalbitzer1, David Erritzoe1, Klaus K. Holst2, Finn A. Nielsen3, Lisbeth Marner1, Szabolcs Lehel4, Tine Arentzen1, Terry L. Jernigan5, & Gitte M. Knudsen1

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  1. Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Neurobiology Research Unit
  2. University of Copenhagen, Department of Biostatistics
  3. Department Informatics and Mathematical Modelling, Technical University of Denmark
  4. Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, PET and Cyclotron Unit
  5. Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Department of MR
Document Type:
Manuscript
Date:
Received 10 September 2008 22:03 UTC; Posted 10 September 2008
Subjects:
Neuroscience
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Abstract:

Several findings suggest seasonal variations in the serotonin (5-HT) system. We sought evidence for seasonal variation in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). We found that length of daylight time in minutes correlates negatively with 5-HTT binding in the putamen and the caudate, with a similar tendency in the thalamus, but no such association in the midbrain. In the putamen, an anatomical region with a dense serotonin innervation that is implicated in processing of aversive stimuli, we found a significant gene*daylight effect with a negative correlation between the 5-HTT binding and daylight time in carriers of the short 5-HTTLPR allele, but not in carriers of the long allele. The neurobiological endophenotype identified here directly links activation studies, showing responses on the neural circuit level, with dynamic changes in transporter expression measured in vivo.

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2 comments

Matthaeus Willeit on 24 September 2008 07:32 UTC

Congratulations on this exciting results. We have recently published a paper on seasonal changes in [11C]DASB binding potentials that you may want to cite in this article. With regard to seasonal changes, our results match your results perfectly. Nicole Praschak-Rieder & Matthaeus Willeit

Praschak-Rieder et al. ‘Seasonal variation in human brain serotonin transporter binding.’
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008 Sep;65(9):1072-8.

Jan Kalbitzer on 30 September 2008 06:37 UTC

I know, I have seen it just after posting this. Given your amazing reference list on the issue I assumed you are on a similar track and I have to congratulate you to be first on the beautiful seasonality finding (Herzlichen Glückwunsch!). Our manuscript is currently under consideration for publication, I will add your reference to the manuscript as soon as I get feedback from the editor. Given this strong correlation in two independant samples at different locations it seems to be likely to be real (I don’t dare to say true).

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
How to cite this document:

Kalbitzer, Jan, Erritzoe, David, Holst, Klaus, Nielsen, Finn , Marner, Lisbeth, Lehel, Szabolcs, Arentzen, Tine, Jernigan, Terry, and Knudsen, Gitte . Seasonal changes in brain serotonin transporter binding in short 5-HTTLPR-allele carriers but not in long-allele homozygotes. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.2259.1> (2008)

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