Genetic linkage of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on chromosome 16p13, in a region implicated in autism.

Journal article

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.

Authors: Smalley, S; Kustanovich, V; Minassian, S; Stone, J; Ogdie, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: American journal of human genetics
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 959-963
• Publication date: 2002-10-01
• DOI: 10.1086/342732
• EISSN: 1537-6605
• ISSN: 0002-9297
• Language: English
• Keywords: Chromosomes, Human, Pair 16; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Humans; Male; Female; Genetic Linkage; Chromosome Mapping; Autistic Disorder