Polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene of patients with atopic dermatitis-association with personality traits related to high level of anxiety

Abstract

Context: The symptoms of atopic dermatitis (AD) are often aggravated by anxiety, and the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) has been shown to be of importance in this context. Three polymorphisms affecting transcription of this gene are known: a repetitive element, in the promoter region (5HTTLPR), a variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) within intron 2 referred to as STin2, and a single-nucleotide (A/G) polymorphism (SNP) located within the 5-HTTLPR.

Objective: To examine for possible relationships between these polymorphisms and aggravation of AD by stress.

Materials and methods: Thirty-three patients with a history of such aggravation, together with 33 age- and gendermatched healthy control subjects, were recruited. The Karolinska Scales of Personality questionnaire was employed to evaluate anxiety-related personality traits and genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples and analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction.

Results: Although the prevalence of the short and long alleles of 5-HTTLPR did not differ between the patients and healthy controls, there was a tendency towards high prevalence of the short (10-copy) variant of STin2 among the patients. When the study population was further analysed by subdivision into subgroups all AD patients with high- anxiety traits carried the short variant of STin2. In the corresponding healthy control group, the prevalences of the 10-and 12-copy variants were 62% and 38%, respectively (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: These findings indicate a possible association between the 10-copy variant of STin2 and aggravation of AD by anxiety.

Keywords::

• Atopic dermatitis
• serotonin transporter
• polymorphism
• anxiety
• stress

Acknowledgments

The present study was supported by grants from the Welander/Finsen foundation and Karolinska Institutet. The technical assistance of Ms Yvonne Löfgren and Ms Anna-Lena Kastman, is gratefully acknowledged. The statistical advice of Per Näsman is gratefully acknowledged.

Declaration of interest

M.H. is a full time contractor with Pfizer Inc.