TY - JOUR T1 - Fkbp5 and attention bias for threat: Associations with hippocampal function and shape AU - Fani N, Gutman D, Tone EB, et al Y1 - 2013/04/01 N1 - 10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.210 JO - JAMA Psychiatry SP - 392 EP - 400 VL - 70 IS - 4 N2 - Importance  The FKBP5 gene product regulates glucocorticoid receptor (GR) sensitivity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning and has been associated with many stress-related psychiatric disorders. The study of intermediate phenotypes, such as emotion-processing biases and their neural substrates, provides a way to clarify the mechanisms by which FKBP5 dysregulation mediates risk for psychiatric disorders.Objective  To examine whether allelic variations for a putatively functional single-nucleotide polymorphism associated with FKBP5 gene regulation (rs1360780) would relate differentially to attention bias for threat. this was measured through behavioral response on a dot probe task and hippocampal activation during task performance. Morphologic substrates of differential hippocampal response were also measured.Design  Cross-sectional study conducted from 2010 to 2012 examining associations between genotype, behavioral response, and neural response (using functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI]) on the dot probe; voxel-based morphometry and global and local shape analyses were used to measure structural differences in hippocampi between genotype groups.Setting  Participants were recruited from primary care clinics of a publicly funded hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.Participants  An African American cohort of adults (N = 103) was separated into 2 groups by genotype: one genotype group included carriers of the rs1360780 T allele, which has been associated with increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder and affective disorders; the other group did not carry this allele. Behavioral data included both sexes (N = 103); the MRI cohort (n = 36) included only women.Main Outcome Measures  Behavioral and fMRI (blood oxygen level–dependent) response, voxel-based morphometry, and shape analyses.Results  Carriers of the rs1360780 T allele showed an attention bias toward threat compared with individuals without this allele (F1,90 = 5.19, P = .02). Carriers of this allele demonstrated corresponding increases in hippocampal activation and differences in morphology; global and local shape analyses revealed alterations in hippocampal shape for TT/TC compared with CC genotype groups.Conclusion  Genetic variants of FKBP5 may be associated with risk for stress-related psychiatric disorders via differential effects on hippocampal structure and function, resulting in altered attention response to perceived threat. SN - 2168-622X M3 - doi: 10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.210 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.210 ER -