Institute of Psychology II, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
Biol Psychol. 2010 Mar;83(3):214-21. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.12.010. Epub 2010 Jan 12.
Serotonin, a key regulator of emotional behavior, is synthesized by tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). Allelic variation of TPH2 gene expression influences serotonin synthesis in the brain and therefore may modulate emotional processing. Here, we investigated the influence of the -703 G/T polymorphism in the regulatory promoter region of the TPH2 gene on the startle response in three different age samples: children (N=110), young adults (N=209), and older adults (N=95). Startle magnitudes to intense noise bursts were recorded during baseline and while participants viewed unpleasant, pleasant or neutral pictures. There was a significant TPH2xsex interaction effect in young adults with male T allele carriers showing stronger overall startle responses compared to male G/G homozygotes while in young women this effect appeared to be reversed. The difference between TPH2 genotype groups also reached significance in the female subsample when including menstrual cycle phase. In contrast, there was no effect of TPH2 or a TPH2xsex interaction effect in children or in older adults.
血清素是情绪行为的关键调节者，由色氨酸羟化酶（TPH）合成。TPH2 基因表达的等位基因变异影响大脑中的血清素合成，因此可能调节情绪处理。在这里，我们研究了 TPH2 基因调节启动子区域的-703 G/T 多态性对三个不同年龄样本（儿童：N=110；年轻成人：N=209；老年成人：N=95）的惊跳反应的影响。在基线和参与者观看不愉快、愉快或中性图片时，记录了对强烈噪声爆发的惊跳幅度。在年轻成年人中，存在 TPH2xsex 相互作用效应，与男性 G/G 纯合子相比，携带 T 等位基因的男性携带者表现出更强的整体惊跳反应，而在年轻女性中，这种效应似乎相反。当包括月经周期阶段时，在女性亚样本中，TPH2 基因型组之间的差异也具有统计学意义。相比之下，在儿童或老年成年人中，没有 TPH2 或 TPH2xsex 相互作用效应。
