Transcriptome profiling in adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

• Published in: European neuropsychopharmacology Vol. 41; pp. 160 - 166
• Main Authors: Mortimer, Niall, Sánchez-Mora, Cristina, Rovira, Paula, Vilar-Ribó, Laura, Richarte, Vanesa, Corrales, Montse, Fadeuilhe, Christian, Rivero, Olga, Lesch, Klaus-Peter, Casas, Miguel, Ramos-Quiroga, Josep Antoni, Artigas, María Soler, Ribasés, Marta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); Gene-expression signatures; Transcriptomic assays; Gene-expression signatures; Transcriptomic assays; Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• ISSN: 0924-977X; 1873-7862; 1873-7862
• DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.11.005

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an estimated heritability of around 70%. Although the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis on ADHD identified independent loci conferring risk to the disorder, the molecular mechanisms underlying the genetic basis of the disorder remain to be elucidated. To explore ADHD biology, we ran a two-step transcriptome profiling in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 143 ADHD subjects and 169 healthy controls. Through this exploratory study we found eight differentially expressed genes in ADHD. These results highlight promising candidate genes and gene pathways for ADHD and support the use of peripheral tissues to assess gene expression signatures for ADHD.