Association Between 5-HTTLPR Gen Polymorphisms of Serotonin Transporter Gene and Threating Life Events in Undergraduate Students

Meltem Maraş Atabay, Zehra Safi oz, Elvan Kurtman

A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) has been a highly suspect genetic marker for personality. In this study, a functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene was used to characterize genetic vulnerability to negative life events in a representative nonclinical undergraduate students. We observed 9-repeat allele,  10 repeat allele and 12 repeat allele for VNTR polymorphism of this gene.  A number of genetic variants moderates the effects of environmental risk. Frequencies of short (s/s) and long alleles (l/l and l/s/) of 5-HTTLPR were found as mean: 17% and mean: 83%.  Short allele (“s”) in the 5-HTTLPR gene was significantly associated with environmental experiences of these students.  The study suggests a gene–environment interaction whereby biological determinants of attachment disorganization are moderated by social experiences. We determined that the interaction reached a higher level of significance when the threating life events effect on depression in (s/s) genotype carriers was compared with the other two genotypes combined (l/l or l/s). The 5-HTTLPR  gene can interact with environmental conditions. There is the relation between learning perceptual style and 5-HTTLPR  gene polymorphism.