The present findings highlight the role of the 5-HT2A receptor system in executive functions and working memory and suggest that specific 5-HT2A antagonists may be relevant for improving cognitive dysfunctions in psychiatric disorders.
However, although polymorphisms of the HTR2A gene have been associated with both obesity and psychiatric disorders, the role of HTR2A gene methylation in these illnesses remains uncertain.
Further analysis is needed to identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that modulate HTR2A methylation, and the mechanism by which this epigenetic variation influences fetal growth and leads to altered brain development, manifesting in psychiatric disorders.
The incidence of psychiatric disorders has been shown to have a strong genetic component, and we conducted this study to investigate whether the -1438A/G polymorphism of the HTR2A gene was associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD).
We suggest a wider investigation of the HTR2A gene to better understand its role in psychiatric disorders, preferably complemented with the use of proteomic or metabolomic approaches.
Differential DNA methylation has been suggested to contribute to differential activity of alleles C and T and thereby to genetic associations between the C/T(102) polymorphism in the 5-HT2A receptor gene (5HT2AR) and psychiatric disorders.
Alterations in 5-HT(1A,) 5-HT(1B), and 5-HT(2A) mRNA levels in the brains of subjects with both mood disorders and schizophrenia add further support for hypothesis of dysregulation of the serotonergic system in these psychiatric disorders.
These preliminary data suggest that the T102C5-HT2a receptor polymorphism may be a marker for impaired behavior control-perhaps in the context of psychiatric disorder history.
Fine mapping of the human 5-HTR2a gene to chromosome 13q14 and identification of two highly polymorphic linked markers suitable for association studies in psychiatric disorders.