Objective: The aim of this study was to examine a possible association between depressive symptoms and a functional polymorphism (rs686) that modulates the regulation of DRD1 gene by miR-504.
Methods: A total of 239 young Colombian subjects were evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale and genotyped for the rs686 polymorphism. A linear regression model, corrected by age and gender, was used.
Results: A significant association between the rs686 polymorphism and PHQ-9 scores was found, under a dominant genetic model (p=0.0094).
Conclusion: These results provide novel evidence about the growing role of inherited variants in binding sites for brain-expressed miRNAs on depressive symptomatology.
Keywords: Depression; Dopamine receptors; Mental health; Neuropsychiatry; miRNAs.