ArticleHuman brain mapping2014
Serotonin transporter gene methylation is associated with hippocampal gray matter volume.
Article in Human brain mapping, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- DNA methylation and brain structure and function across the life course: A systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Theranostic markers for personalized therapy of spider phobia: Methods of a bicentric external cross-validation machine learning approach.International journal of methods in psychiatric research · 2020Trial
- Prematurity and Epigenetic Regulation ofBiomedicines · 2025Article
- Peripheral DNA Methylation of Cortisol- and Serotonin-Related Genes Predicts Hippocampal Volume in a Pediatric Population.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Intermediate endophenotypes and epigenetic mechanisms of psychiatric disorders.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Epigenetic MRI: Noninvasive imaging of DNA methylation in the brain.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- The role of BDNF methylation and ValHuman brain mapping · 2020Article
- Analytical Value of Cell-Free DNA Based onFrontiers in psychiatry · 2019Article
- In vivo relationship between serotonin 1A receptor binding and gray matter volume in the healthy brain and in major depressive disorder.Brain structure & function · 2018Article
- Association of Serotonin Transporter Gene AluJb Methylation with Major Depression, Amygdala Responsiveness, 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 Polymorphism, and Stress.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Article
- A Comparison of Neuroimaging Abnormalities in Multiple Sclerosis, Major Depression and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis): is There a Common Cause?Molecular neurobiology · 2018Review
- Warning SINEs: Alu elements, evolution of the human brain, and the spectrum of neurological disease.Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology · 2018Review
- Longitudinal epigenetic predictors of amygdala:hippocampus volume ratio.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2017Article
- Looking Beyond the 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism: Genetic and Epigenetic Layers of Regulation Affecting the Serotonin Transporter Gene Expression.Molecular neurobiology · 2017Review
- Serotonin transporter gene promoter methylation status correlates with in vivo prefrontal 5-HTT availability and reward function in human obesity.Translational psychiatry · 2017Article
- Imaging genetics in neurodevelopmental psychopathology.American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics : the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics · 2017Review
- Early life adversity alters normal sex-dependent developmental dynamics of DNA methylation.Development and psychopathology · 2016Article
- Review
- Association between reduced white matter integrity in the corpus callosum and serotonin transporter gene DNA methylation in medication-naive patients with major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2016Article
- The influence of 5-HTTLPR and Val66Met polymorphisms on cortical thickness and volume in limbic and paralimbic regions in depression: a preliminary study.BMC psychiatry · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe serotonin transporter (5-HTT) and the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphisms in its gene (SLC6A4) have been associated with depression, increased stress-response, and brain structural alterations such as reduced hippocampal volumes. Recently, epigenetic processes including SLC6A4 promoter methylation were shown to be affected by stress, trauma, or maltreatment and are regarded to be involved in the etiology of affective disorders. However, neurobiological correlates of SLC6A4 promoter methylation have never been studied or compared to genotype effects by means of human neuroimaging hitherto
methodsHealthy subjects were recruited in two independent samples (N = 94, N = 95) to obtain structural gray matter images processed by voxel-based morphometry (VBM8), focusing on hippocampal, amygdala, and anterior cingulate gyrus gray matter structure. SLC6A4 promoter methylation within an AluJb element and 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 genotypes were analyzed in view of a possible impact on local gray matter volume
resultsStrong associations of AluJb methylation and hippocampal gray matter volumes emerged within each sample separately, which in the combined sample withstood most conservative alpha-corrections for the entire brain. The amygdala, insula, and caudate nucleus showed similar associations. The 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 showed no main effect on gray matter, and the effect of methylation rates on hippocampal structure was comparable among the genotype groups
conclusionsMethylation within the AluJb appears to have strong effects on hippocampal gray matter volumes, indicating that epigenetic processes can alter brain structures crucially involved in stress-related disorders. Different ways of regulating SLC6A4 expression might involve exonization or transcription factor binding as potentially underlying mechanisms, which, however, is speculative and warrants further investigation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.