TY - JOUR
TI - Further evidence for a possible association between serotonin
transporter gene and lithium prophylaxis in mood disorders
AU - Serretti, A
AU - Malitas, PN
AU - Mandelli, L
AU - Lorenzi, C
AU - Ploia, C
AU - and Alevizos, B
AU - Nikolaou, C
AU - Boufidou, F
AU - Christodoulou, GN
AU - and Smeraldi, E
JO - The Pharmacogenomics Journal
PY - 2004
VL - 4
TODO - 4
SP - 267-273
PB - Nature Publishing Group
SN - 1470-269X, 1473-1150
TODO - 10.1038/sj.tpj.6500252
TODO - lithium; bipolar disorder; follow-up studies; pharmacogenetics
TODO - We previously reported an association between the functional
polymorphism in the upstream regulatory region of the serotonin
transporter gene (SERTPR) and the prophylactic efficacy of lithium in a
sample of 201 Italian subjects affected by Mood disorders. The aim of
the present study was to replicate analyses on an independent sample. In
total, 83 subjects affected by Bipolar disorder were recruited in the
Mood Disorders Clinic of the Eginition Hospital of the Athens
University, Medical School Department of Psychiatry. All patients were
administered with lithium as prophylactic therapy and they were
prospectively observed for at least 3 years. Subjects were typed for
their SERTPR variant using polymerase chain reaction techniques. SERTPR
variants were associated with lithium outcome among those subjects who
had few manic episodes before lithium treatment and, as a trend, among
subjects who received a high daily dose of lithium (greater than or
equal to 1200 mg/die). In both cases, subjects with the l/l variant
showed a higher probability to develop an illness episode within 3 years
of prophylactic treatment with lithium. The present study confirmed our
previous observation of a better response of SERTPR*l/s carriers, but
could not confirm a poor efficacy in subjects with the SERTPR*s/s
genotype. Notwithstanding the conflicting results, SERTPR variants are a
possible liability factor for lithium long-term efficacy in mood
disorders. Further studies on independent and large samples are required
to determine the reliability and direction of the possible association
between SERTPR variants and lithium outcome.
ER -