No evidence for association of serotonin-2A receptor variant (102T/C) with schizophrenia or clozapine response in a Chinese population

THE serotonin hypothesis in schizophrenia had regained interest with the superior efficacy of clozapine in the refractory schizophrenic patients. Among the serotonin receptors, the serotonin 2A (5HT(2A)) receptor subtype is the most widely studied. Previous studies on the association between a silent mutation polymorphism of the 5HT(2A) gene (102T/C) and schizophrenia or clozapine response have yielded conflicting findings. Therefore, we investigated whether these genetic variants of the 5HT(2A) receptor are associated with Schizophrenia or with response to clozapine treatment in a Chinese population. Ninety-seven schizophrenic patients and 101 control subjects were included in the study. The receptor variants were found at similar frequencies in schizophrenic patients and healthy control subjects. Also, we did not find the variants to influence the response to clozapine in schizophrenic patients. We suggest that the assessment method of clozapine response and the ethnicity may influence the result. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.