Polimorfismos de la región UTR 3’ del gen DAT1 en jóvenes universitarios con bajos niveles de depresión o ansiedad de una universidad de Cali, Colombia, 2018

Introduction: in the 3’ Untranslated Region (UTR) of the SLC6A3 gene coding for the dopamine transporter 1 (DAT1), the presence of Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR) has been described that, depending on their length, can affect protein expression and dopaminergic reuptake, which could contribute to the development of neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Objective: to describe the frequency of VNTR polymorphisms in the 3’ UTR region of the DAT1 gene in a sample of undergraduate students with low levels of depression and anxiety from a private university in Cali, Colombia. Methods: cross-sectional study in 62 college students aged 18-25 years in 2018, selected with low levels of anxiety and depression according to Beck Depression Inventory (BDI -II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) inventories. VNTR polymorphisms of the SLC6A3 gene for DAT-1 were genotyped from peripheral blood DNA from PCR technique. Hardy Weinberg equilibrium was calculated with the frequencies. Results: fifty-two percent of the subjects were female, with a mean age of 20 years. The genotypic frequencies of DAT1 VNTRs were in Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05). The alleles with the highest frequency were VNTRs with 10R (75 %) and 9R (23.4 %). Rare alleles of 11R and 6R (0.08 %) were found to be present in heterozygous genotypes with 10R. Conclusion: the 10R and 9R allele frequencies of VNTR DAT-1 in university students with low levels of depression and anxiety were similar to those reported in other Latin American populations. The less frequent 6R and 11R variants may derive from interbreeding with Asian or European populations.