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Del Hoyo L, Xicota L, Langohr K, Sánchez-Benavides G, de Sola S, Cuenca-Royo A, Rodriguez J, Rodríguez-Morató J, Farré M, Dierssen M, de la Torre R. VNTR-DAT1 and COMTVal158Met Genotypes Modulate Mental Flexibility and Adaptive Behavior Skills in Down Syndrome. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:193. [PMID: 27799900 PMCID: PMC5065956 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is an aneuploidy syndrome that is caused by trisomy for human chromosome 21 resulting in a characteristic cognitive and behavioral phenotype, which includes executive functioning and adaptive behavior difficulties possibly due to prefrontal cortex (PFC) deficits. DS also present a high risk for early onset of Alzheimer Disease-like dementia. The dopamine (DA) system plays a neuromodulatory role in the activity of the PFC. Several studies have implicated trait differences in DA signaling on executive functioning based on genetic polymorphisms in the genes encoding for the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMTVal158Met) and the dopamine transporter (VNTR-DAT1). Since it is known that the phenotypic consequences of genetic variants are modulated by the genetic background in which they occur, we here explore whether these polymorphisms variants interact with the trisomic genetic background to influence gene expression, and how this in turn mediates DS phenotype variability regarding PFC cognition. We genotyped 69 young adults of both genders with DS, and found that VNTR-DAT1 was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium but COMTVal158Met had a reduced frequency of Met allele homozygotes. In our population, genotypes conferring higher DA availability, such as Met allele carriers and VNTR-DAT1 10-repeat allele homozygotes, resulted in improved performance in executive function tasks that require mental flexibility. Met allele carriers showed worse adaptive social skills and self-direction, and increased scores in the social subscale of the Dementia Questionnaire for People with Intellectual Disabilities than Val allele homozygotes. The VNTR-DAT1 was not involved in adaptive behavior or early dementia symptoms. Our results suggest that genetic variants of COMTVal158Met and VNTR-DAT1 may contribute to PFC-dependent cognition, while only COMTVal158Met is involved in behavioral phenotypes of DS, similar to euploid population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Del Hoyo
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Departament de Farmacologia, de Terapèutica i de Toxicologia, Universidad Autónoma de BarcelonaBarcelona, Spain
| | - Laura Xicota
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Cellular & Systems Neurobiology, Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation, The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universidad Pompeu FabraBarcelona, Spain
| | - Klaus Langohr
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Universidad Politècnica de Cataluña/BarcelonaTechBarcelona, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Sánchez-Benavides
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute Barcelona, Spain
| | - Susana de Sola
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Cellular & Systems Neurobiology, Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation, The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelona, Spain
| | - Aida Cuenca-Royo
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Rodriguez
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose Rodríguez-Morató
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universidad Pompeu FabraBarcelona, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto Salud Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain
| | - Magí Farré
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Departament de Farmacologia, de Terapèutica i de Toxicologia, Universidad Autónoma de BarcelonaBarcelona, Spain
| | - Mara Dierssen
- Cellular & Systems Neurobiology, Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation, The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universidad Pompeu FabraBarcelona, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras, Instituto Salud Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain
| | - Rafael de la Torre
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neuroscience Group, Neurosciences Research Program, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research InstituteBarcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universidad Pompeu FabraBarcelona, Spain; CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto Salud Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain
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Mason GM, Spanó G, Edgin J. Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Down syndrome: effects of the dopamine receptor D4 gene. AMERICAN JOURNAL ON INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2015; 120:58-71. [PMID: 25551267 DOI: 10.1352/1944-7558-120.1.58] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study examined individual differences in ADHD symptoms and executive function (EF) in children with Down syndrome (DS) in relation to the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene, a gene often linked to ADHD in people without DS. Participants included 68 individuals with DS (7-21 years), assessed through laboratory tasks, caregiver reports, and experimenter ratings. Saliva samples were collected from the DS group and 66 children without DS to compare DRD4 allele distribution, showing no difference between the groups. When the sample with DS was stratified for ethnicity (n = 32), the DRD4 7-repeat allele significantly related to parent and experimenter ratings, but not to laboratory assessments. These results suggest that nontrisomy genetic factors may contribute to individual differences in ADHD symptoms in persons with DS.
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