Association of the rs2242446 polymorphism in the norepinephrine transporter gene SLC6A2 and anxious arousal symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Recently, we found that greater norepinephrine transporter (NET) availability in the locus coeruleus of trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was associated with increased severity of anxious arousal (i.e., hypervigilance and exaggerated startle) symptoms, but not any of the other empirically-derived symptom clusters that characterize this disorder.1 This finding suggests that greater NET availability in the locus coeruleus may serve a compensatory function of clearing elevated synaptic norepinephrine and maintaining anxious arousal symptoms in persons with PTSD.