ArticlePsychosomatic medicine
Association between promoter methylation of serotonin transporter gene and depressive symptoms: a monozygotic twin study.
Article in Psychosomatic medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 127 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the association between serotonin transporter promoter region methylation levels and depressive symptoms: a systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of molecular imaging of serotonin transporters in major depression.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2014Pooled it
- Epigenetic Regulation of Modulatory Neurotransmitter System Integrity in the Aging Brain: A Scoping Review Across the Lifespan.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- A systematic review investigating the relationship between green and blue spaces and depression in older adults via DNA methylation.Environmental epigenetics · 2026Review
- Prematurity and Epigenetic Regulation ofBiomedicines · 2025Article
- Unraveling the Complex Interplay Between Neuroinflammation and Depression: A Comprehensive Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
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- Biocultural Aspects of Mental Distress: Expanding the Biomedical Model Towards an Integrative Biopsychosocial Understanding of Disorder.Integrative psychological & behavioral science · 2024Review
- Review
- No association between peripheral serotonin-gene-related DNA methylation and brain serotonin neurotransmission in the healthy and depressed state.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Article
- DNA Methylation Patterns in Relation to Acute Severity and Duration of Anxiety and Depression.Current issues in molecular biology · 2023Article
- Epigenetic regulation in major depression and other stress-related disorders: molecular mechanisms, clinical relevance and therapeutic potential.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2023Review
- Endocannabinoid signaling and epigenetics modifications in the neurobiology of stress-related disorders.Neuronal signaling · 2023Review
- Methylation of the serotonin reuptake transporter gene and non-motor symptoms in dystonia patients.Clinical epigenetics · 2022Article
- DNA Methylation in Depression and Depressive-Like Phenotype: Biomarker or Target of Pharmacological Intervention?Current neuropharmacology · 2022Review
- Can epigenetics shine a light on the biological pathways underlying major mental disorders?Psychological medicine · 2022Review
- Epigenetics in depression and gut-brain axis: A molecular crosstalk.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
- Heterogeneous Mediation Analysis on Epigenomic PTSD and Traumatic Stress in a Predominantly African American Cohort.Journal of the American Statistical Association · 2022Article
- DNA Methylation as a Therapeutic and Diagnostic Target in Major Depressive Disorder.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Article
- Factors related to age at depression onset: the role of SLC6A4 methylation, sex, exposure to stressful life events and personality in a sample of inpatients suffering from major depression.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
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4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
objectiveEpigenetic mechanisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. The serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) is a key candidate gene for depression. We examined the association between SLC6A4 promoter methylation variation and depressive symptoms using 84 monozygotic twin pairs.
methodsDNA methylation level in the SLC6A4 promoter region was quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing using genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes. The number of current depressive symptoms was assessed using the Beck Depressive Inventory II (BDI-II). The association between methylation variation and depressive symptoms was examined using matched twin-pair analyses, adjusting for body mass index, smoking, physical activity, and alcohol consumption. Multiple testing was controlled by adjusted false discovery rate (q value).
resultsIntrapair difference in DNA methylation variation at 10 of the 20 studied CpG sites is significantly correlated with intrapair difference in BDI scores. Linear regression using intrapair differences demonstrates that intrapair difference in BDI score was significantly associated with intrapair differences in DNA methylation variation after adjusting for potential confounders and correction for multiple testing. On average, a 10% increase in the difference in mean DNA methylation level was associated with 4.4 increase in the difference in BDI score (95% confidence interval = 0.9-7.9, p = .01).
conclusionsThis study provides evidence that variation in methylation level within the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene is associated with variation in depressive symptoms in a large sample of monozygotic twin pairs. This relationship is not confounded by genetic and shared environment. The 5-HTTLPR genotype also does not modulate this association.
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