Neurotensin Receptor 1 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Personality Traits in Healthy Chinese Individuals

Abstract

Aims: Neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1) is a neurotensin (NT) receptor subtype with a high affinity for NT. NT and NTR1 signaling are involved in modulating the dopamine system. Individual variations in the dopamine system have been demonstrated to determine certain dimensions of personality, but no studies have thus far investigated the involvement of the NTR1 in the biological determination of personality. We therefore examined this link in a Chinese Han population. Methods: We genotyped 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs6090453C/G, rs6011914C/G, and rs2427422A/G) of the NTR1 gene and collected the data about the personality traits of novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), and reward dependence (RD), as well as their subscales (measured by the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire), in 575 healthy Chinese Han subjects. Then we examined the association between the 3 NTR1 gene polymorphisms and each personality trait. Results: There were significant differences in the HA2, HA3 and RD1 scores between rs6090453C/G genotypes (F = 3.425, 5.651, 4.054, p = 0.033, 0.004, 0.018, respectively), in the HA2 and total RD scores between rs6011914C/G genotypes (F = 4.080, 3.712, p = 0.017, 0.025, respectively), and in the total RD (χ² = 7.301, p = 0.026) and RD3 (F = 4.119, p = 0.017) scores between the rs2427422A/G genotypes. There were significant male-specific differences in the RD1 scores between the rs6090453C/G genotypes (F = 3.334, p = 0.037), in the total HA (F = 3.043, p = 0.049), HA2 (F = 4.472, p = 0.012) and RD3 (χ² = 6.997, p = 0.030) scores between the rs6011914C/G genotypes, and in the HA2 (F = 3.177, p = 0.043), total RD (χ² = 7.032, p = 0.030), and RD3 (F = 4.563, p = 0.011) scores between the rs2427422A/G genotypes. We also demonstrated a significant female-specific difference in the total RD scores between the rs6011914C/G genotypes (F = 3.677, p = 0.026). There was no significant difference in the total NS and subscale scores between the genotypes of all 3 SNPs (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: The variations in the NTR1 gene were involved in the biological mechanisms of HA and RD personality traits; however, the effect is influenced by gender.

Preliminary study of personality traits in Chinese lung cancer patients: Modification by neurotensin receptor 1 polymorphisms

“…It also found that the NTR1 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with 2 distinct personality traits, HA and RD, in Chinese patients with lung cancer; smoking and a family history of cancer had no effect on these results. These results seemed to be consistent with the results of our previous study on healthy Chinese individuals (Ma et al , ). However, distinctive differences in the subscale dimensions that were associated with the NTR1 polymorphism genotypes were found through a further comparison of our present and previous studies (Ma et al , ).…”

“…These results seemed to be consistent with the results of our previous study on healthy Chinese individuals (Ma et al , ). However, distinctive differences in the subscale dimensions that were associated with the NTR1 polymorphism genotypes were found through a further comparison of our present and previous studies (Ma et al , ). Thus, there are certain differences in the regulating effects of NTR1 gene variants on TPQ‐measured personality traits between lung cancer patients and healthy participants.…”

“…The data for the patients were obtained from the present study, while the data for the healthy subjects were obtained from our previous study (Ma et al , ). The rs6090453 polymorphism was associated with the RD2 score of cancer patients and with the HA2, HA3, and RD1 scores of healthy people.…”

Association between GPx-1 Polymorphisms and Personality Traits in Healthy Chinese-Han Subjects

“…Additionally, previous studies have shown that the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) is related to personality traits (Ebstein et al 1996;Noble 2003). Recent studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that personality traits are associated with Neurotensin receptor 1 (NTR1) (Ma et al 2014), and DARPP-32 (Li et al 2011), which can affect the dopaminergic system. Taken together, these studies strongly confirmed that personality traits are related to monoamine neurotransmitters, especially DA.…”

Colonic Transit Time and Gut Peptides in Adult Patients with Slow and Normal Colonic Transit Constipation

“…NTS variants, along with polymorphisms in the Neurotensin Receptor 1 (NTR1) gene coding for a high affinity neurotensin receptor, have already been investigated for their possible roles in neuropsychiatric disorders [ 18 ], but no data concerning neurotensin system genetics and constipation are available in literature. A previously published research by our group highlighted that the NTS rs1800832 A/G SNP was associated with circulating levels of the peptide in patients with functional dyspepsia, letting us hypothesize a possible role for neurotensin genetics in the symptom profile of the disease [ 19 ].…”