rs1611115 — DBH -1021C>T

The Dopamine-to-Norepinephrine Switch — Why One Variant Controls So Much

Your brain runs on a delicate balance between dopamine¹¹ dopamine
The "motivation and reward" neurotransmitter. Dopamine drives focus, pleasure-seeking, and motor control. Too much is linked to impulsivity; too little to apathy and Parkinson's-like symptoms and norepinephrine²² norepinephrine
The "alertness and stress response" neurotransmitter. Norepinephrine sharpens attention, raises blood pressure, and mobilizes the body for action. It is synthesized directly from dopamine by the enzyme DBH. The enzyme that converts one into the other is dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), and the rs1611115 variant in its promoter region is the single most powerful genetic determinant of how much DBH your body makes. Carriers of the T allele produce dramatically less enzyme, tilting their neurochemistry toward higher dopamine and lower norepinephrine — a shift with far-reaching consequences for cognition, stress response, cardiovascular function, and substance sensitivity.

The Mechanism

The rs1611115 variant sits in the promoter region³³ promoter region
The DNA sequence upstream of a gene that controls when and how much the gene is transcribed into mRNA. Changes here don't alter the protein itself but control how much protein is made of the DBH gene on chromosome 9, approximately 1,021 base pairs upstream of the transcription start site. The T allele reduces transcriptional activity, leading to less DBH mRNA and consequently less enzyme protein.

Allele-specific expression studies⁴⁴ Allele-specific expression studies
Tang et al. Regulatory Polymorphisms in Human DBH Affect Peripheral Gene Expression and Sympathetic Activity. Circulation Research, 2014 in human tissues reveal striking effects: the T allele causes approximately 4-fold lower DBH mRNA expression in the liver, with pronounced allelic imbalance in all 17 heterozygous liver samples tested. The effect is tissue-specific — liver and lung show the strongest reductions, while the locus coeruleus⁵⁵ locus coeruleus
The brain's primary norepinephrine-producing nucleus, a small cluster of neurons in the brainstem that sends noradrenergic projections throughout the entire brain and adrenal glands show minimal allelic imbalance, suggesting compensatory mechanisms in the central nervous system.

DBH is a copper-dependent oxygenase⁶⁶ copper-dependent oxygenase
DBH requires two copper ions per subunit and uses molecular oxygen and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as co-substrates. Without adequate copper or vitamin C, the enzyme cannot function efficiently regardless of genotype that requires both copper and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) as essential cofactors. This biochemistry makes these nutrients directly actionable for T-allele carriers.

The Evidence

The foundational study by Zabetian et al.⁷⁷ Zabetian et al.
Zabetian CP et al. A quantitative-trait analysis of human plasma-dopamine beta-hydroxylase activity: evidence for a major functional polymorphism at the DBH locus. Am J Hum Genet, 2001 measured plasma DBH activity across 522 individuals from three populations. The results were dramatic: among European Americans, TT homozygotes had mean enzyme activity of just 4.1 nmol/min/ml compared with 48.1 for CC homozygotes — a nearly 12-fold difference. CT heterozygotes fell in between at 25.2. The variant explained 35% of activity variance in African Americans and 51-52% in European Americans and Japanese, making it one of the strongest single-SNP effects on any measurable human phenotype.

The clinical consequences of this enzyme variation span multiple domains:

Cognition and ADHD: Low DBH activity has been repeatedly associated with attention-deficit traits. A study in Eastern Indian ADHD patients⁸⁸ A study in Eastern Indian ADHD patients
Bhaduri N, Bhattacharyya M. Study on DBH Genetic Polymorphisms and Plasma Activity in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Patients from Eastern India. Cell Mol Neurobiol, 2009 found strong correlation between rs1611115 genotype and plasma DBH activity (P = 1.51 x 10^-6), and the T allele has been linked to increased impulsiveness and aggression in multiple studies.

Alzheimer's disease: The Epistasis Project⁹⁹ Epistasis Project
Combarros O et al. The dopamine beta-hydroxylase -1021C/T polymorphism is associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease in the Epistasis Project. BMC Med Genet, 2010 found the T allele associated with AD risk (OR = 1.2, P = 0.005) across 1,757 cases and 6,294 controls, with a particularly strong effect in men under 75 (OR = 2.2). This association showed epistasis with the inflammatory gene IL1A, suggesting that low DBH activity may impair the regulation of neuroinflammation.

Cardiovascular effects: Paradoxically, while the T allele appears to increase neurological risk, it shows a protective cardiovascular profile. Tang et al. found the T allele associated with reduced risk of angina pectoris (OR = 0.43, P = 0.0002) and possibly myocardial infarction across three independent cohorts totaling over 9,000 subjects. Males homozygous for the C allele (high DBH) showed significantly higher myocardial contractility under stress, consistent with greater sympathetic drive.

Substance sensitivity: A pharmacogenetic trial¹⁰¹⁰ pharmacogenetic trial
Kosten TR et al. Pharmacogenetic randomized trial for cocaine abuse: disulfiram and dopamine beta-hydroxylase. Biol Psychiatry, 2013 demonstrated that disulfiram (which inhibits DBH) reduced cocaine-positive urines only in CC genotype patients, while CT and TT carriers — who already have low DBH — showed no benefit. The T allele has also been associated with alcohol withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens risk.

Practical Implications

The DBH enzyme requires copper and vitamin C as cofactors, making nutritional support a direct intervention for T-allele carriers. Ensuring adequate intake of both nutrients helps maximize whatever enzyme activity the genotype allows.

Carriers of the T allele operate with a higher dopamine-to-norepinephrine ratio, which can manifest as enhanced creativity and reward sensitivity but also as difficulty sustaining attention, increased stress reactivity, and vulnerability to orthostatic symptoms (feeling dizzy when standing quickly). These are not pathological in most people but represent a different neurochemical set point that benefits from awareness and management.

For cardiovascular health, the T allele may actually be protective — lower sympathetic drive means less cardiac stress. But for brain health and cognitive function, supporting DBH activity through nutrition and lifestyle becomes more important with age, given the Alzheimer's association.

Interactions

DBH rs1611115 interacts with other variants in the DBH gene itself. The coding variant rs6271 (+1603C>T, Arg535Cys) independently reduces enzyme activity, and together with rs1611115 and rs2519152, these three variants explain up to 37.6% of plasma DBH variance in African Americans.

The catecholamine pathway involves several genes that may interact with DBH status. COMT (rs4680) controls dopamine degradation — a person with both low DBH (rs1611115 TT) and slow COMT (Val158Met, Met/Met) would have a doubly-shifted dopamine balance: less conversion to norepinephrine and slower clearance of existing dopamine. This combination may amplify both the cognitive benefits and the stress vulnerability of elevated dopamine.

The Alzheimer's-related epistasis between DBH rs1611115-T and IL1A -889TT (rs1800587) suggests that the neuroinflammatory consequences of low norepinephrine may depend on inflammatory gene background, a finding that warrants further investigation.