Vol 9, No 1- Neuropsychiatry and Cardiovascular Disease
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he study of the association between schizo- phrenia and the gene encoding the serotonin (5-HT)2A receptor has been a matter of interest in recent years. The 5-HT2Areceptor gene (5-HTR2A)has several poly- morphisms in the general population,but the T102C polymorphism is probably the most extensively studied. This polymorphism does not result in an amino acid change in the receptor,as both alleles encode a serine at position 34.1Nevertheless,there is some evidence show- ing that the C-allele form can be significantly less func- tional than the T allele of 5-HTR2A,both in healthy con- trols and schizophrenic patients,and this difference is even more prominent in schizophrenic patients.2 F r e e  p a p e r T Copyright © 2007 LLS SAS. All rights reserved www.dialogues-cns.org Association study of T102C 5-HT2A polymorphism in schizophrenic patients: diagnosis,psychopathology,and suicidal behavior Humberto Correa,MD,PhD;Luiz De Marco,MD,PhD; Wolfanga Boson,MSc;Rodrigo Nicolato,MD;António L.Teixeira,MD,PhD; Valdir R.Campo,MD; Marco A.Romano-Silva,MD,PhD Keywords:schizophrenia; suicide; 5-HT2A; polymorphism Author affiliations:Department of Mental Health (Humberto Correa); Department of Pharmacology (Luiz De Marco, Wolfanga Boson, Marco A. Romano-Silva); Pharmacogenetics Laboratory (Rodrigo Nicolato, António L. Teixera, Valdir R. Campo, Marco A. Romano-Silva), Serviço de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil Address for correspondence:Humberto Correa, MD, PhD, Departamento de Saúde Mental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 30.130-100 Av. Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (e-mail: correa@task.com.br) The objective of this study was to examine the association between the serotonin (5-HT)2Agene polymorphism (102T/C) and suicidal behavior in schizophrenic inpatients. We studied 129 subjects who met the diagnostic criteria for schiz- ophrenia according to a structured clinical interview (MINI-PLUS). Patients underwent a semistructured interview to assess suicide attempt history and its characteristics. In addition, at least one close relative of the patient was inter- viewed to assess proband and family suicidal behavior. Healthy controls were students and hospital staff members free of psychiatric and medical illness. Genotypes were determined after polymerase chain reaction amplification of the region of 5-HT2A/T102C containing the polymorphic site and digestion with the restriction enzyme HpaII. We found no association between suicidal attempt history and suicide attempt characteristics and genotypic or allele frequen- cies. Suicidal behavior was also not associated with demographic or psychopathological characteristics. These results suggest that the 5-HT2Agene polymorphism (102T/C) is not involved in genetic susceptibility to suicidal behavior, but further studies in a larger sample are needed. © 2007, LLS SAS Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2007;9:97-101.