Genetic linkage of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on chromosome 16p13, in a region implicated in autism

Smalley, S. L., Kustanovich, V., Minassian, S. L., Stone, J. L., Ogdie, M. N., McGough, J. J., McCracken, J. T., MacPhie, I. L., Francks, C., Fisher, S. E., Cantor, R. M., Monaco, A. P., & Nelson, S. F. (2002). Genetic linkage of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on chromosome 16p13, in a region implicated in autism. American Journal of Human Genetics, 71(4), 959-963. doi:10.1086/342732.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in childhood and likely represents an extreme of normal behavior. ADHD significantly impacts learning in school-age children and leads to impaired functioning throughout the life span. There is strong evidence for a genetic etiology of the disorder, although putative alleles, principally in dopamine-related pathways suggested by candidate-gene studies, have very small effect sizes. We use affected-sib-pair analysis in 203 families to localize the first major susceptibility locus for ADHD to a 12-cM region on chromosome 16p13 (maximum LOD score 4.2; P=.000005), building upon an earlier genomewide scan of this disorder. The region overlaps that highlighted in three genome scans for autism, a disorder in which inattention and hyperactivity are common, and physically maps to a 7-Mb region on 16p13. These findings suggest that variations in a gene on 16p13 may contribute to common deficits found in both ADHD and autism.
Publication type
Journal article
Publication date
2002

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