No research has examined whether DRD4 variation is associated with biased attention for contextually cued emotion stimuli, an important putative intermediate phenotype for a number of pathologies (e.g. depression and anxiety).
Molecular genetic studies point to potential risk loci of psychotic depression shared with schizoaffective disorder (1q42, 22q11, 19p13), depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia (6p, 8p22, 10p13-12, 10p14, 13q13-14, 13q32, 18p, 22q11-13) and several vulnerability genes possibly contributing to an increased risk of psychotic symptoms in depression (eg, BDNF, DBH, DTNBP1, DRD2, DRD4, GSK-3beta, MAO-A).
Gene × environment effects of serotonin transporter, dopamine receptor D4, and monoamine oxidase A genes with contextual and parenting risk factors on symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, and depression in a community sample of 4-year-old children.
This study examined associations between the DRD4 gene 48bp VNTR polymorphism and comorbidity between marijuana use frequency and depression in a diverse, non-clinical adolescent sample (n=1882; ages 14 to 18) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health).