Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Int J Eat Disord. 2012 May;45(4):622-5. doi: 10.1002/eat.20986. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
Up to one-third of patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) report a history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and the dopaminergic genes, especially the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), have been associated independently with both binge eating and ADHD.
The purpose of this study was to (1) compare the frequency of DRD4 exon III VNTR variants in 157 BN probands and equal number of healthy controls; (2) assess transmission of DRD4 alleles in 68 families of patients with BN; and (3) explore the possible role of DRD4 gene in childhood ADHD history in a subgroup of 81 women with BN.
Our results showed that the BN probands and controls did not differ in DRD4 allele frequency. We also did not find evidence for preferential transmission of any DRD4 variant to the affected offspring with BN. However, the presence of either the 2-repeat or 7-repeat allele was associated with a history of childhood ADHD in BN (p = .038, odds ratio = 3.2).
Our findings suggest that although DRD4 may not be associated with the diagnosis of BN, its variants are associated with a history of childhood ADHD in BN probands. This may have relevance for the understanding, prevention, and treatment of BN that evolves in the context of childhood ADHD.
多达三分之一的神经性贪食症（BN）患者报告有注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）症状史，多巴胺能基因，尤其是多巴胺受体 D4（DRD4），与暴饮暴食和 ADHD 均有独立关联。
本研究的目的是：（1）比较 157 名 BN 先证者和相同数量的健康对照者 DRD4 外显子 III VNTR 变体的频率；（2）评估 68 个 BN 患者家系中 DRD4 等位基因的传递；（3）在 81 名 BN 女性亚组中，探讨 DRD4 基因在儿童期 ADHD 病史中的可能作用。
我们的结果表明，BN 先证者和对照组在 DRD4 等位基因频率上没有差异。我们也没有发现任何 DRD4 变体优先传递给受影响的 BN 后代的证据。然而，2 重复或 7 重复等位基因的存在与 BN 中儿童期 ADHD 病史有关（p =.038，优势比 = 3.2）。
我们的发现表明，尽管 DRD4 可能与 BN 的诊断无关，但它的变体与 BN 先证者的儿童期 ADHD 病史有关。这对于理解、预防和治疗在儿童期 ADHD 背景下发展的 BN 可能具有重要意义。
