Department of Psychology, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Feb 1;34(1):111-4. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2009.10.008. Epub 2009 Oct 22.
The s-allele of the 5-HTTLPR has been suggested to lead to the development of less efficient and less flexible 5-HT system and has been associated to different forms of psychopathology. It has also been shown that alterations in serotonergic activity contribute to the pathophysiology of binge eating but it is not clear which changes in 5-HT function observed in eating disorder patients represent trait vs state effect. We investigated the association between the 5-HTTLPR and binge eating in a population-representative sample of women, and tested whether the 5-HTTLPR genotype influences the severity of binge eating.
The sample was based on women participating in the third wave of the Estonian Children Personality, Behaviour and Health Study. EDI-2 subscales - drive for thinness and bulimia - were used to assess eating behaviour and attitudes. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to measure impulsivity and anxiety. Participants were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR.
There was no 5-HTTLPR genotype effect on binge eating even after the covarying effect of impulsivity and anxiety was controlled for. However, women prone to binge eating and carrying the s-allele showed significantly higher levels of bulimia scores, and among them, women with s/s genotype had also higher levels of state anxiety and tendency for higher impulsivity.
While the 5-HTTLPR genotype does not predict symptoms of eating disorder in general population, the s-allele, and especially the s/s genotype increases the risk for affective instability and symptom severity.
5-HTTLPR 的 s 等位基因被认为导致 5-HT 系统效率降低和灵活性降低，并与不同形式的精神病理学有关。也有研究表明，5-羟色胺能活性的改变有助于暴饮暴食的病理生理学，但尚不清楚在饮食失调患者中观察到的 5-HT 功能的哪些变化代表特征效应与状态效应。我们在女性人群代表性样本中研究了 5-HTTLPR 与暴饮暴食之间的关联，并测试了 5-HTTLPR 基因型是否影响暴饮暴食的严重程度。
该样本基于参加爱沙尼亚儿童人格、行为和健康研究第三波的女性。使用 EDI-2 分量表 - 对瘦的渴望和贪食 - 来评估饮食行为和态度。使用巴瑞特冲动量表（BIS-11）和状态和特质焦虑量表（STAI）来衡量冲动性和焦虑程度。对参与者进行 5-HTTLPR 基因分型。
即使在控制了冲动性和焦虑的共变效应后，5-HTTLPR 基因型对暴饮暴食也没有影响。然而，容易暴饮暴食且携带 s 等位基因的女性的贪食评分明显更高，其中 s/s 基因型的女性状态焦虑水平也更高，并且有更高的冲动倾向。
虽然 5-HTTLPR 基因型不能预测一般人群中饮食失调的症状，但 s 等位基因，尤其是 s/s 基因型增加了情感不稳定和症状严重程度的风险。
