No evidence for interaction between 5-HT2A receptor and serotonin transporter genes in schizophrenia

This study was to aim at investigating the potential interaction for the serotonin receptor gene (5-HTR) 2A and serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms in the development of schizophrenia, as well as the interaction of the two polymorphisms in relation with symptomatology, family history, age of onset and antipsychotic response. Genomic DNA analysis with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for the genotyping. One hundred and eleven (111) patients with schizophrenia and 172 normal controls participated in the study. We did not find any association between the individual polymorphism and schizophrenia. The significant interaction effect between 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTR2A polymorphisms on the development of schizophrenia as well as on the antipsychotics response, family history, symptomatology and age at onset, was not found. However, subject with 5-HTR2A*TT genotype were found to have lower age of onset, compared to their counterparts (p = 0.01). These results suggest that the interaction between 5-HTTLPR and 5-HTR2A polymorphisms may not contribute to susceptibility to schizophrenia as well as some clinical factors such as antipsychotic response, at least in the Korean population.