Serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR VNTR allele frequency distribution in Africa and Eurasia

Abstract

The S allele frequencies of serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR, which is associated with a number of psychiatric disorders, were found for 21 populations of Eurasia and Africa. The principal components of genetic variability (PC1 and PC2) based on the published frequencies for 68 alleles at five STR loci of CODIS, which are supposed to be neutral, were calculated for the same populations. The S allele frequency is correlated to PC2 (R = 0.820, p < 0.0001); this means that the correlation corresponds to the general genetic variability in the studied populations. The correlation between the STR allele frequency and Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism dimension index for 4 of the 68 studied alleles is even higher than the correlation of the S allele frequency. Our findings do not support the hypothesis (Chiao and Blizinsky, 2010) on the culture-gene coevolution of the S allele frequency and the level of collectivism.