Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2019 May;49(3):270-285.
doi: 10.1007/s10519-018-09947-2. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

A Potential Role for the STXBP5-AS1 Gene in Adult ADHD Symptoms

A Arias-Vásquez  1   2   3 , A J Groffen  4 , S Spijker  5 , K G Ouwens  5   6 , M Klein  7 , D Vojinovic  8 , T E Galesloot  9 , J Bralten  7 , J J Hottenga  5   6 , P J van der Most  9 , V M Kattenberg  5 , R Pool  5   6 , I M Nolte  9 , B W J H Penninx  10 , I O Fedko  5   6 , C V Dolan  5 , M G Nivard  5   6 , A den Braber  5 , C M van Duijn  8 , P J Hoekstra  11 , J K Buitelaar  12   13 , L A Kiemeney  14 , M Hoogman  7 , C M Middeldorp  5   15   16 , H H M Draisma  5 , S H Vermeulen  14 , C Sánchez-Mora  17   18   19 , J A Ramos-Quiroga  18   19   20 , M Ribasés  17   18   19 ; EAGLE-ADHD Consortium; C A Hartman  21 , J J S Kooij  22 , N Amin  8 , A B Smit  5 , B Franke  23   7 , D I Boomsma  5   6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

A Potential Role for the STXBP5-AS1 Gene in Adult ADHD Symptoms

A Arias-Vásquez et al. Behav Genet. 2019 May.

Abstract

We aimed to detect Attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) risk-conferring genes in adults. In children, ADHD is characterized by age-inappropriate levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity and may persists into adulthood. Childhood and adulthood ADHD are heritable, and are thought to represent the clinical extreme of a continuous distribution of ADHD symptoms in the general population. We aimed to leverage the power of studies of quantitative ADHD symptoms in adults who were genotyped. Within the SAGA (Study of ADHD trait genetics in adults) consortium, we estimated the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability of quantitative self-reported ADHD symptoms and carried out a genome-wide association meta-analysis in nine adult population-based and case-only cohorts of adults. A total of n = 14,689 individuals were included. In two of the SAGA cohorts we found a significant SNP-based heritability for self-rated ADHD symptom scores of respectively 15% (n = 3656) and 30% (n = 1841). The top hit of the genome-wide meta-analysis (SNP rs12661753; p-value = 3.02 × 10-7) was present in the long non-coding RNA gene STXBP5-AS1. This association was also observed in a meta-analysis of childhood ADHD symptom scores in eight population-based pediatric cohorts from the Early Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) ADHD consortium (n = 14,776). Genome-wide meta-analysis of the SAGA and EAGLE data (n = 29,465) increased the strength of the association with the SNP rs12661753. In human HEK293 cells, expression of STXBP5-AS1 enhanced the expression of a reporter construct of STXBP5, a gene known to be involved in "SNAP" (Soluble NSF attachment protein) Receptor" (SNARE) complex formation. In mouse strains featuring different levels of impulsivity, transcript levels in the prefrontal cortex of the mouse ortholog Gm28905 strongly correlated negatively with motor impulsivity as measured in the five choice serial reaction time task (r2 = - 0.61; p = 0.004). Our results are consistent with an effect of the STXBP5-AS1 gene on ADHD symptom scores distribution and point to a possible biological mechanism, other than antisense RNA inhibition, involved in ADHD-related impulsivity levels.

Keywords: ADHD symptoms; Adults; GWAS; STXBP5-AS1 gene.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources