ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2008
Dopamine receptor genetic polymorphisms and body composition in undernourished pastoralists: an exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern Kenya.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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25 citing papers in PubMed, 193 citations in OpenAlex.
- Religion priming differentially increases prosocial behavior among variants of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2013Trial
- Errors or Adaptations? A Critical Review of Predictive Processing in Psychiatry.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Influence of reward-related genetic variants on BMI and predisposition to obesity: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Genetics and molecular biology · 2026Article
- The 7-Repeat (7R) Variant of theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia and Inflammaging in the Management of Spine Pain: The Case for Genetically Directed Dopamine Homeostasis.International journal of spine surgery · 2025Article
- The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Associated DRD4 7R Allele Predicts Household Economic Status but Not Nutritional Status in Northern Kenyan Rendille Children.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Common and Uncommon Mouse Models of Growth Hormone Deficiency.Endocrine reviews · 2024Review
- Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foraging.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Fructose and Uric Acid as Drivers of a Hyperactive Foraging Response: A Clue to Behavioral Disorders Associated with Impulsivity or Mania?Evolution and human behavior : official journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society · 2021Article
- Gender differences in parieto-frontal brain functional connectivity correlates of creativity.Brain and behavior · 2019Article
- The association of insertions/deletions (INDELs) and variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) with obesity and its related traits and complications.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2017Review
- Gene and environment interaction: Is the differential susceptibility hypothesis relevant for obesity?Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2017Review
- DSM-5, psychiatric epidemiology and the false positives problem.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2015Article
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptom self-report in adults in Kenya and its associated risk factors, an analysis from a household survey in a demographic surveillance site.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2015Article
- Dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene polymorphism among Gaddi tribe of Himachal Pradesh.Journal of genetics · 2014Article
- Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS): molecular neurogenetic evidence for predisposition to Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS).Molecular neurobiology · 2014Article
- Association between the seven-repeat allele of the dopamine-4 receptor gene (DRD4) and spontaneous food intake in pre-school children.Appetite · 2014Article
- Ecology rather than psychology explains co-occurrence of predation and border patrols in male chimpanzees.Animal behaviour · 2013Article
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder genomics: update for clinicians.Current psychiatry reports · 2012Review
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4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundMinor alleles of the human dopamine receptor polymorphisms, DRD2/TaqI A and DRD4/48 bp, are related to decreased functioning and/or numbers of their respective receptors and have been shown to be correlated with body mass, height and food craving. In addition, the 7R minor allele of the DRD4 gene is at a higher frequency in nomadic compared to sedentary populations. Here we examine polymorphisms in the DRD2 and DRD4 genes with respect to body mass index (BMI) and height among men in two populations of Ariaal pastoralists, one recently settled (n = 87) and the other still nomadic (n = 65). The Ariaal live in northern Kenya, are chronically undernourished and are divided socially among age-sets.
resultsFrequencies of the DRD4/7R and DRD2/A1 alleles were 19.4% and 28.2%, respectively and did not differ between the nomadic and settled populations. BMI was higher in those with one or two DRD4/7R alleles in the nomadic population, but lower among the settled. Post-hoc analysis suggests that the DRD4 differences in BMI were due primarily to differences in fat free body mass. Height was unrelated to either DRD2/TaqI A or DRD4/48 bp genotypes.
conclusionOur results indicate that the DRD4/7R allele may be more advantageous among nomadic than settled Ariaal men. This result suggests that a selective advantage mediated through behaviour may be responsible for the higher frequency of the 7R alleles in nomadic relative to sedentary populations around the world. In contrast to previous work, we did not find an association between DRD2 genotypes and height. Our results support the idea that human phenotypic expression of genotypes should be rigorously evaluated in diverse environments and genetic backgrounds.
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