Related Experiment Videos
Dopamine transporter gene, response to methylphenidate and cerebral blood flow in attention-deficit/hyperactivity
Luis A Rohde1, Tatiana Roman, Claudia Szobot
1ADHD Outpatient Clinic, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. lrohde@terra.com.br
Abstract:
The homozygosity of the 10-repeat allele at dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) seems to be associated with a poor response to methylphenidate (MPH) in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This pilot study aimed to simultaneously assess polymorphisms at DAT1, response to MPH, and neuroimaging. Only ADHD children with at least a moderate response to MPH were included. Significantly higher regional cerebral blood flows assessed by single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) were detected in medial frontal and left basal ganglia areas in children with homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele at DAT1 gene (n = 4) than in children without this genotype (n = 4) (P < 0.05). These findings provide a preliminary connection between pharmacogenetics and neurobiological investigations on stimulant treatment of ADHD.