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. 2013 Oct 17;30(1):33–42. doi: 10.1007/s12264-013-1380-5

Genes in the serotonin pathway are associated with bipolar affective disorder in a Han Chinese population

Bo Xiang 1, Zhenxing Yang 1, Yin Lin 1,2,3, Lijie Guan 3, Xuan Li 3, Wei Deng 1,2, Zeyu Jiang 3, Guohui Lao 3, Qiang Wang 1,2, Xiaoyu Hao 3, Xiang Liu 2, Yingcheng Wang 2, Liansheng Zhao 1, Xiaohong Ma 1,2, Tao Li 1,2, Liping Cao 3,✉, Xun Hu 1,4,✉
PMCID: PMC5562572  PMID: 24136241

Abstract

Serotonin plays an important role in mood regulation, but the involvement of serotonin pathway genes in the development of bipolar I disorder (BP-I), a mood disorder, is not clear. We selected 21 singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the HTR2A gene, 8 within the SLC6A4 gene and 23 within the TPH2 gene for genotyping using the GoldenGate genotyping assay. A total of 375 patients with BP-I and 475 normal controls were recruited. Two out of 21 SNPs (rs1475196 and rs9567747) in the HTR2A gene and 1/23 SNPs (rs17110566) in the TPH2 gene were significantly associated with BP-I, both genotype-wise and allele-wise. Furthermore, a specific haplotype in the HTR2A gene showed a significant association with BP-I. Our results indicate that the HTR2A and TPH2 genes in the serotonin pathway play important roles in susceptibility to BP-I.

Keywords: bipolar affective disorder, serotonin pathway, TPH2, HTR2A, SLC6A4

Contributor Information

Liping Cao, Email: coolliping@163.com.

Xun Hu, Email: hxxhu99@163.com.

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