Our results demonstrate the influence of a HTR2A polymorphism on aspects of somatization in major depression, which co-occurs with an unfavorable antidepressant treatment outcome.
While further work is needed to identify the actual functional genetic variants involved, these results suggest that a relationship exists between genetic variation in HTR2A and either 5-HTT expression or central serotonergic transmission that influences the therapeutic response to 5-HTT inhibition in major depression.
Six polymorphisms in four genes related to the serotonin system, including the HTTLPR and HTTVNTR in the SLC6A4 gene, rs6295 in the HTR1A gene, rs11568817 and rs130058 in the HTR1B gene, and rs6313 in the HTR2A gene, were studied in 420 patients with MD to investigate the relationship between these genes and suicidal ideation in MD.
These results support the hypothesis that GNB3, HTR2A, and SLC6A4 may play a role in the outcome of short-term antidepressant treatment for MDD in an interactive manner.
The serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptor gene has been implicated in the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior by a genetic association between the 5-HT2AC102T silent polymorphism and suicidality in patients with major depression.
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the -1438A/G polymorphism in the 5-HTR2A gene and the response to citalopram in a Korean population with major depressive disorder (MDD).
Additional evidence for a role of serotonin (5-HT) in the pathogenesis of suicidal behavior is provided by a recent report that the 5-HT2A (HTR2A) T102C polymorphism was associated with suicidality in patients with major depression.
Our results support the hypothesis that the -1438A/G polymorphism of the promoter region of the 5-HTR2A gene is associated with MDD patients in a Korean population.
Many studies investigated the association between MDD and BD with the 5-HT2A102 T/C, the 5-HTT promoter 44 bp insertion/deletion and the intron 2 VNTR polymorphisms, and thus, these could be pooled using meta-analytic techniques.
The results demonstrated that the -1438G/A promoter polymorphism in the 5-HT(2A) receptor gene was unlikely to have a major role in therapeutic response to fluvoxamine in Japanese patients with major depressive disorder.
The 102T/C polymorphism of the 5-HT(2A) receptor gene was analyzed in 159 patients with major depression (DSM-IV criteria) and 164 unrelated and healthy controls using a case control design.
Overall our results suggest that the investigated 5-HT2A and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms are not major susceptibility factors in the etiology of major depression.
These results suggest that variation in the 5-HT2A receptor gene may play a role in the development of major depression with seasonal pattern and support the existence of a genetic and etiological heterogeneity underlying the diagnosis of major depression.
Our results suggest that the 102T/C polymorphism in 5-HT2A receptor gene is primarily associated with suicidal ideation in patients with major depression.Am.J. Med.Genet.(Neuropsychiatr.Genet.)96:56-60, 2000.