Submit Manuscript

Serotonintransporter gene changes face across the Chinese and the Caucasian

 Emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. It is believed that functional impairment in production and transportation of the brain serotonin can lead to emotional disorders. In Caucasians, the short allele of the serotonintransporter gene is associated with higher risk for anxiety and depression. However, this association is still unclear in Asians. For the first time, Long et al. address this issue with behavioral and neuroimaging studies in a large (n = 233) group of healthy Han Chinese subjects. The authors found long allele carriers had higher anxiety scores. In another group (n = 65) experiencing significant levels of depression or anxiety, long allele-frequency was also significantly higher. In healthy subjects, L carriers had reduced functional and anatomical connectivity between two typical emotion-relevant brain structures, amygdala and prefrontal cortex, which correlated with anxiety or depression scores. The authors’ findings demonstrate that in Chinese Han subjects, in contrast to Caucasians, the L allele confers vulnerability for anxiety and depression and weakened top-down emotional control between the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Long’s study potentially has profound implications. This work highlights cross-ethnic differences or unexpected opposition in the genetic contributions to the risk of developing emotional disorders. Moreover, Long’s findings call for novel strategy of ethnic population-based drug development and prescription for some diseases, such as depresion and anxiety.