Serotonergic (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) transmission may play an important
role in the treatment and/or pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Previous studi
es reported that several atypical antipsychotic agents have high affinities
for the 5-HT6 receptor. The 5-HT6 receptor gene polymorphism might contrib
ute to the genetic background of this disorder. One hundred and fifty unrel
ated patients with schizophrenia and 150 unrelated healthy controls were ge
notyped for a biallelic polymorphism (267C/T) at the 5-HT6 receptor gene. N
o significant positive association between the 5-HT6 receptor genotype and
schizophrenia was observed. Our results suggests that the 267C/T polymorphi
sm of the 5-HT6 receptor gene may not be involved in the susceptibility to
schizophrenia. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.